The influences of sex, rearing environment, and neonatal choline dietary supplementation on spatial and nonspatial learning and memory in adult rats

Tees, Richard C.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1098-2302(199912)35:4<328::aid-dev7>3.0.co;2-4

Cited by 49 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…These include improved learning and memory (Meck et al 1988; Tees 1999 a;b), even into old age; (Meck and Williams 2003; Glenn et al 2008); protection from the detrimental effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (Thomas et al 2004; Monk et al 2012); improvement in behavioral deficits associated with a model of Rett’s syndrome (Nag and Berger-Sweeney 2007); improved cognitive function in a model of Down’s syndrome (Moon et al 2010); and antidepressant-like effects in adult female rats (Glenn et al 2012) as well as improving both cognitive deficits and sensory inhibition in mouse models of schizophrenia (Corriveau and Glenn 2012; Stevens et al 2008, respectively). The present study extends these studies by linking improvement in sensory inhibition to stimulation of α7 nicotinic receptors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term improvements in sensory inhibition with gestational choline supplementation linked to α7 nicotinic receptors through studies in Chrna7 null mutation mice

et al. 2014

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Perinatal choline supplementation has produced several benefits in rodent models, from improved learning and memory to protection from the behavioral effects of fetal alcohol exposure. We have shown that supplemented choline through gestation and lactation produces long-term improvement in deficient sensory inhibition in DBA/2 mice which models a similar deficit in schizophrenia patients. The present study extends that research by feeding normal or supplemented choline diets to DBA/2 mice carrying the null mutation for the α7 nicotinic receptor gene (Chrna7). DBA/2 mice heterozygotic for Chrna7 were bred together. Dams were placed on supplemented (5 gm/kg diet) or normal (1.1 gm/kg diet) choline at mating and remained on the specific diet until offspring weaning. Thereafter, offspring were fed standard rodent chow. Adult offspring were assessed for sensory inhibition. Brains were obtained to ascertain hippocampal α7 nicotinic receptor levels. Choline-supplemented mice heterozygotic or null-mutant for Chrna7 failed to show improvement in sensory inhibition. Only wildtype choline-supplemented mice showed improvement with the effect solely through a decrease in test amplitude. This supports the hypothesis that gestational-choline supplementation is acting through the α7 nicotinic receptor to improve sensory inhibition. Although there was a significant gene-dose-related change in hippocampal α7 receptor numbers, binding studies did not reveal any choline-dose-related change in binding in any hippocampal region, the interaction being driven by a significant genotype main effect (wildtype>heterozygote>null mutant). These data parallel a human study wherein the offspring of pregnant women receiving choline supplementation during gestation, showed better sensory inhibition than offspring of women on placebo.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term improvements in sensory inhibition with gestational choline supplementation linked to α7 nicotinic receptors through studies in Chrna7 null mutation mice

et al. 2014

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“…In contrast, relatively little is known about the effects of prenatal choline manipulation on other types of learning and memory. For example, Tees (1999b) and Tees and Mohammadi (1999) reported that adult rats given perinatal choline supplementation showed enhanced performance on a nonspatial discrimination task. This task employed transverse patterning, which involves learning a very complex conditional discrimination.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal choline availability alters the context sensitivity of Pavlovian conditioning in adult rats

Lamoureux¹,

Meck²,

Williams³

2008

Learn. Mem.

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The effects of prenatal choline availability on Pavlovian conditioning were assessed in adult male rats (3-4 mo). Neither supplementation nor deprivation of prenatal choline affected the acquisition and extinction of simple Pavlovian conditioned excitation, or the acquisition and retardation of conditioned inhibition. However, prenatal choline availability significantly altered the contextual control of these learned behaviors. Both control and choline-deprived rats exhibited context specificity of conditioned excitation as exhibited by a loss in responding when tested in an alternate context after conditioning; in contrast, choline-supplemented rats showed no such effect. When switched to a different context following extinction, however, both choline-supplemented and control rats showed substantial contextual control of responding, whereas choline-deficient rats did not. These data support the view that configural associations that rely on hippocampal function are selectively sensitive to prenatal manipulations of dietary choline during prenatal development.There is increasing evidence that variations in maternal dietary choline intake during the second half of pregnancy cause structural, biochemical, and physiological changes in basal forebrain neurons and their projections to the hippocampal complex as well as long-term cognitive changes in the offspring (e.g., Meck and Williams 2003;McCann et al. 2006;Meck et al. 2008). We know, for instance, that the adult offspring of pregnant rats supplemented with 4.5 times the amount of choline in the standard laboratory diet display improved memory capacity and precision on the radial-arm maze (e.g., Meck et al.

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“…Certain anatomical regions of hippocampus (e.g., dentate gyrus) play critical roles in learning and acquisition of memory. In rats, prenatal choline supplementation increased the sensitivity of CA1 hippocampal neurons to stimulation of long-term potentiation (LTP) [28], and increased working spatial memory [18,20,21,24,25], whereas prenatal choline deficiency increased the threshold for long term potentiation (LTP), and retarded temporal processing [19]. We previously reported that, in the rat and mouse, these physiological and behavioral changes may be related to neuroanatomical changes in regions of fetal brain hippocampus and basal forebrain that are known to regulate memory [29 -32].…”

Section: Choline and Brain Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritional Importance of Choline for Brain Development

Zeisel

2004

Journal of the American College of Nutrition

155

112

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Choline is a dietary component essential for normal function of all cells. In 1998 the National Academy of Sciences, USA, issued a report identifying choline as a required nutrient for humans and recommended daily intake amounts. In ongoing studies we are finding that men have a higher requirement than do postmenopausal women, who in turn need more than premenopausal women. Pregnancy and lactation are periods when maternal reserves of choline are depleted. At the same time, the availability of choline for normal development of brain is critical. When rat pups received choline supplements (in utero or during the second week of life), their brain function is changed, resulting in lifelong memory enhancement. This change in memory function appears to be due to changes in the development of the memory center (hippocampus) in brain. These changes are so important that investigators can pick out the groups of animals whose mothers had extra choline even when these animals are elderly. Thus, memory function in the aged is, in part, determined by what mother ate. Foods highest in total choline concentrations per 100 g were beef liver (418 mg), chicken liver (290 mg), and eggs (251 mg). We suggest that choline-rich foods are an important component of the diet and that especially during pregnancy it would be prudent to include them as part of a healthy diet.

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The influences of sex, rearing environment, and neonatal choline dietary supplementation on spatial and nonspatial learning and memory in adult rats

Cited by 49 publications

References 56 publications

Long-term improvements in sensory inhibition with gestational choline supplementation linked to α7 nicotinic receptors through studies in Chrna7 null mutation mice

Long-term improvements in sensory inhibition with gestational choline supplementation linked to α7 nicotinic receptors through studies in Chrna7 null mutation mice

Prenatal choline availability alters the context sensitivity of Pavlovian conditioning in adult rats

Nutritional Importance of Choline for Brain Development

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