People with more klotho in their body, tend to live longer and to retain more of their faculties—that is to stay sharp—well into old age.

Researchers injected three types of mice with a portion of the protein. They injected young mice, aged mice, and mice genetically altered to have brains similar to that which we would see in Alzheimer's or Parkinson's patients in humans.

"Within hours they showed better cognitive function," says Dubal.

Since you can't exactly administer a mouse an IQ test, they assessed brain power based on the mice's ability to navigate a series of water mazes, in an experiment that sounds on par with human a trip to Wisconsin's famed waterslide park, The Dells.

They found that mice that had daily injections and were better able to navigate the maze (as measured by the distance traveled to find a hidden platform) than their control group peers. In a classic example of work smarter, not harder, the klotho mice were just much more efficient seekers.