In a recent paper in the journal Cell Reports, scientists with the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center in Canada argue that toying with just one protein in the brain could have us all become geniuses, sort of.

More precisely, these researchers and their colleagues claim to have zoomed in on a molecule that is naturally occurring in the brain and that limits its ability to process and store information.

The scientists argue that, were it possible to block the activity of this protein in the human brain, your average Joe and Jane might experience an improvement in their ability to make heads or Tails of environmental cues and produce memories.

Pining down the protein that influences brain power

Writing in the journal Cell Reports, the scientists behind this research project explain that, as shown by previous investigations, the brain relies on the production of certain molecules to produce and store memories.

Whenever the brain is not allowed to produce these molecules, memories are not created and stored. Apparently, a protein dubbed FXR1P (Fragile X Related Protein 1) is guilty of blocking the production of molecules needed for memory formation.

“Previous research has shown that production of new molecules is necessary for storing memories in the brain; if you block the production of these molecules, new memory formation does not take place,” explains neuroscientist Dr. Keith Murai.

“Our findings show that the brain has a key protein that limits the production of molecules necessary for memory formation,” the researcher goes on to detail.

Having found that this one protein impedes memory formation and storage, the scientists set out to investigate whether or not it might be possible to improve brainpower by blocking it. To this end, they carried out a series of experiments on mice.

Improving the brain abilities of laboratory rodents

As part of their experiments, the scientists removed the FXR1P from certain regions of the brain of several mice. They then closely monitored the rodents and found that, when compared to the regions they let be, the brain areas that they toyed with packed more molecules needed to form memories.

These molecules strengthened connections between neurons. In doing so, they helped the mice experience an improvement in their ability to process information, and form new memories and recall them when they needed to use them.

How these findings can help treat neurodegenerative diseases

Admittedly, it will probably be a while until neuroscientist Dr. Keith Murai and fellow researchers can move from experimenting on mice to experimenting on human volunteers, let alone use their findings to boost regular folks' brain power and have us all become geniuses.

Still, the scientists argue that, in the not-too-distant future, it might be possible to act on the FXR1P protein to treat neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease or autism by controlling the brain activity of the people diagnosed with such disorders.

“Future research in this area could be very interesting. If we can identify compounds that control the braking potential of FXR1P, we may be able to alter the amount of brain activity or plasticity,” says Dr. Keith Murai.

Furthermore, “In autism, one may want to decrease certain brain activity and in Alzheimer’s disease, we may want to enhance the activity. By manipulating FXR1P, we may eventually be able to adjust memory formation and retrieval, thus improving the quality of life of people suffering from brain diseases.”