Marijuana may hold the key to a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease, a new study suggests.

The research, published in the journal Aging and Mechanisms of Disease, identified a compound present in marijuana that triggered the removal of beta-amyloid protein from nerve cells in the brain, Huffington Post reports. Beta-amyloid is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, forming clumps in the brain that disrupt communication between neurons.

For the new study, David Schubert, of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies , and colleagues modified nerve cells to produce high levels of the protein in the lab. They then applied a chemical in marijuana, called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), to nerve cells with high beta-amyloid production.

They found that the THC reduced beta-amyloid levels and eradicated the cells' inflammatory response to the protein, which prevented nerve cell death.

The researchers believe their findings shed more light on the role beta-amyloid plays in Alzheimer’s disease, which could pave the way for new treatments.