Scientists have discovered that a sticky lipid occurring naturally at high levels in you brain may help you memorize facts, as well as recall details of your past.

Palmitate, a fatty acid, marks certain brain proteins -- NMDA receptors -- that need to be activated for long-term memory and learning to take place. The fatty substance directs the receptors to specific locations in the outer membrane of brain cells, which continually strengthen and weaken their connections with each other, sculpting and resculpting new memory circuits.

This fatty modification is a reversible process, possibly with some sort of on-off switch, offering possibilities for manipulating it to enhance memory.