A gene has been dubbed 'the Homer Simpson gene' by its discoverers because it holds mice back mentally. Researchers from Emory University School of Medicine discovered that deleting RGS14 - which is also found in humans - makes mice smarter by unlocking a region of the brain previously considered to be relatively inflexible. Mice with the deleted gene could remember objects they'd previously explored and navigate a water maze to a hidden escape platform by remem-Bering visual cues more quickly than normal mice.
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