Little Gift Shop of Horrors Star Trek reference?

I’m rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation right now (I haven’t watched it since I was younger) and what happens in this episode reminded me directly of the Waddles part of the Little Gift Shop of Horrors episode… one of the (side) characters gets an affliction where he becomes like a billion times smarter than every other character and by the end of the episode he has built a machine where he just sits in a chair with lasers shining into his head and speaks through the machine and he becomes way too smart and all that… which is pretty much exactly what happens in the Waddles part of this episode…

My question is this like, a trope that happens? Because it’s like, exactly like this Star Trek Episode. Is it a direct reference or just a common trope? I haven’t found anything about it but that being said I haven’t found too much about the Little Gift Shop of Horrors episode in general (even though it’s one of my favorites).

Thoughts?