South Korean researchers have discovered, for the first time in the world, genes that repress memory formation in the brain. 

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said that research teams, led by Professor Kaang Bong-kiun and Narry Kim at Seoul National University, discovered multiple gene repression mechanisms during a memory formation process.

The teams explained that the common belief until now was that protein synthesis must occur in the brain for long term memories to consolidate. However, their experiments on mice found out that some proteins need to be instead repressed for memory formation.

The researchers have found around 20 such memory repressive genes.

They believe the finding can help develop treatment for brain-related illnesses such as dementia, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and drug addiction.

The study was published in Friday's online edition of Science magazine.