'Scientists hoping to allow users of medical marijuana to avoid the impairment of short-term memory that typically goes along with the drug have made a dramatic breakthrough in the understanding of how memory functions.

According to Scientific American, Giovanni Marsicano and his colleagues at the University of Bordeaux in France removed cannabinoid receptors from neurons in mice, then fed them THC, the primary active ingredient in marijuana. The mice turned out to do just as badly at remembering the location of a hidden platform in a pool as regular stoned mice.

The researchers then removed the cannabinoid receptors from the astrocytes surrounding the neurons — and suddenly the stoned mice were memory whizzes.'

Read more: Stoned Mice Lead to Breakthrough in Understanding Memory