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A diet of chicken, fish and protein shakes might do wonders for people with brain injuries.

Akiva Cohen of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and his colleagues mimicked brain injury in mice by injecting fluid through a hole drilled in their skull.

After seven days, the brain-injured mice had much lower levels of three branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), leucine, isoleucine and valine, compared with control mice. These are found in protein-rich food and are known for their ability to build muscle.

The team then fed another set of brain-injured mice either plain water or water enriched with BCAAs. Five days later, those that had taken BCAAs had normal levels of the amino acids and performed better on a learning task.