It's not the fabled Fountain of Youth but scientists in the USA have discovered that people with a variant of a gene called Klotho tend to live longer.

The gene itself also reduces dementia in old age. It is encoded by a gene called KL.

Scientists at the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF) studying ways to boost the brain's ability to function, especially in old age, confirmed that persons with one copy of KL-VS, a variant of the Klotho gene, tend to live longer and have lower chances of suffering a stroke.

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KL-VS promotes longevity. One way it does this is by reducing age-related heart disease. Persons with one copy of KL-VS also have enhanced cognitive abilities.

On the other hand, persons who have two copies might have shorter lives and a higher risk of stroke.

The study revealed the importance of genes that regulate the multiple aging processes involved in the maintenance of cognitive function.

A statement from the research team said that understanding the factors that control the levels and activity of Klotho across multiple organ systems might open new therapeutic avenues for prevention of age-related cognitive decline and dementia.

Researchers discovered that persons with Klotho have improved brain skills such as thinking, learning and memory irrespective of their age and sex, or whether or not they have a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.

They also saw that increasing Klotho gene levels made mice smarter, a result probably caused by increasing the strength of connections between nerve cells in the brain.

"This could be a major step toward helping millions around the world who are suffering from Alzheimer's disease and other dementias," said Dena Dubal, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of neurology at the David A. Coulter Endowed Chair in Aging and Neurodegeneration at UCSF.

"If we could boost the brain's ability to function, we may be able to counter dementias."

During the study, scientists tested a variety of cognitive skills on more than 700 subjects between the ages of 52 to 85 years old. These cognitive skills included learning, memory and attention.  None of the persons involved in the study had any signs of dementia.

As with previous studies, this one showed that 20 to 25 percent of the subjects had one copy of the KL-VS variant. These persons performed better on tests than those who had no copies. Performance on the tests, however, declined with age regardless of whether a subject had one or no copies of the KL-VS gene variant.