"It appears that this base wiring of the brain is a determinant of one's vulnerability to develop obesity," said Professor Tamas Horvath, a neurobiologist at Yale University.

In fact, Helmholtz discovered it took longer for people to respond to a shock in the toe than to one at the base of the spine because the path to the brain was longer.

The chief executive, Pablo Isla, sees no need for a second product base: “We’re not thinking of replicating the brain in Asia, ” he says, “though maybe logistics.”