(NewsNation) — Scientists at Harvard say they may have found a key cause of Alzheimer's disease — too little lithium in the brain.

The new study shows that lithium, a natural chemical in our brains, protects memory. When lithium levels drop, brain damage starts and memory gets worse.

The team studied brain tissue from people with and without Alzheimer's. They found healthy people had lots of lithium in their brains, but people with memory problems had much less.

To test this, researchers fed mice a diet low in lithium. The mice quickly developed brain problems similar to Alzheimer's, including memory loss and brain damage.

But when scientists gave the mice lithium, their memory got better and brain damage was reversed, even in older mice with severe problems.

The researchers found tha

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