In male mice given very high doses of statins, the brain and blood show some recovery in a key enzyme within a day, but the enzyme in red blood cells stays low — suggesting different parts of the body bounce back at different rates.

When male mice get really high doses of statins, they act differently — like moving less or exploring less — and their brain chemistry changes too. Scientists think the way statins affect a certain brain enzyme might be why this happens.

In mice, super high doses of certain cholesterol drugs seem to lower the activity of an important brain enzyme across the body, including in the brain, just a couple of hours after taking them.