In a serendipitous twist that can only be found in medical science a widely used cholesterol-lowering drug, Lovastatin, may also aid learning in adults and kids with learning disabilities. Researchers at UCLA will begin three separate human trials in both children and adults within a few weeks after their initial animal testing showed hopeful results. Amazingly, after the knock-out mice received the drug, their performance (on a series of memory tasks) improved 30 percent so that they outperformed normal mice, reported the LA Times.

Lovastatin, trade-named Mevacor, is one of a family of drugs known collectively as statins that have revolutionized the treatment of high cholesterol. The drugs, first introduced in the 1990s and taken daily by millions of people at risk for heart disease and other problems, have been widely recognized as safe.

The learning problems studied by the researchers were caused by a genetic defect called neurofibromatosis 1, the most common genetic cause of learning disabilities. It affects 1 in every 3,000 to 4,000 people. The learning disabilities include poor attention spans, difficulties in carrying out tasks involving spatial abilities and problems learning new tasks.

The LA Times article continues, "The treatment also may be useful in a much larger group of people because the underlying molecular disorders in other types of learning disabilities may be similar, the researchers said. As much as 5 percent of the population is learning disabled, and lovastatin may be useful in treating many of them, he said.

The key to the discovery is a protein called Ras, which regulates how brain cells communicate. Researchers had previously shown that the genetic mutations associated with neurofibromatosis 1 lead to an excess production of Ras, which inhibits the brain's ability to record newly learned information. Statins interfere with Ras by reducing the level of fats found in blood, known as lipids, which are required by Ras to carry out its function."

No matter how powerful the scientific method is as a technique for real progress, it never ceases to amaze me how many breakthroughs occur as afterthoughts or side effects of other projects.