International Journal of Comparative Psychology

Our laboratory has discovered that alterations in choline availability to the developing rat fetus lead to long-term changes in spatial and temporal memory function across the lifespan and associated changes in the septo-hippocamal system. The current study was undertaken to determine if performance on an attention task, believed to be relatively independent of septo-hippocampal function, was modified by changes in choline availability prior to birth. A sustained attention task was developed for mice that includes all the features of the 2-choice signal-detection procedure initially applied to rats (McGaughy & Sarter, 1995). Prenatal choline deficiency significantly impaired the ability of adult mice to sustain attention to a brief visual cue throughout a session as evidenced by decreased “Hits” and increased “Omissions” during the second-half of trials. In contrast, prenatal choline supplementation enhanced the ability of mice to detect visual cues but did not alter their ability to maintain attention throughout a session. These data support the view that the effects of alterations in choline availability on brain anatomy, physiology, and function likely extend beyond the septo-hippocampal system that modulates spatial memory. In the case of the sustained attention task, this likely includes cholinergic projections from the basal forebrain to neocortex.