Prenatal choline supplementation alters the timing, emotion, and memory performance (TEMP) of adult male and female rats as indexed by differential reinforcement of low-rate schedule behavior

Learn Mem. 2008 Mar 5;15(3):153-62. doi: 10.1101/lm.729408. Print 2008 Mar.

Abstract

Choline availability in the maternal diet has a lasting effect on brain and behavior of the offspring. To further delineate the impact of early nutritional status, we examined effects of prenatal-choline supplementation on timing, emotion, and memory performance of adult male and female rats. Rats that were given sufficient choline (CON: 1.1 g/kg) or supplemental choline (SUP: 5.0 g/kg) during embryonic days (ED) 12-17 were trained with a differential reinforcement of low-rate (DRL) schedule that was gradually transitioned through 5-, 10-, 18-, 36-, and 72-sec criterion times. We observed that SUP-females emitted more reinforced responses than CON-females, which were more efficient than both groups of males. In addition, SUP-males and SUP-females exhibited a reduction in burst responding (response latencies <2 sec) compared with both groups of CON rats. Furthermore, despite a reduced level of burst responding, the SUP-males made more nonreinforced responses prior to the DRL criterion as a result of maintaining the previous DRL criterion following transition to a new criterion. In summary, long-lasting effects of prenatal-choline supplementation were exhibited by reduced frustrative DRL responding in conjunction with the persistence of temporal memory in SUP-males and enhanced temporal exploration and response efficiency in SUP-females.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal / physiology
  • Brain / drug effects*
  • Brain / embryology*
  • Choline / pharmacology*
  • Conditioning, Psychological / physiology
  • Dietary Supplements
  • Emotions / physiology
  • Female
  • Male
  • Memory / physiology
  • Nootropic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Pregnancy
  • Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Reaction Time / physiology
  • Reinforcement Schedule
  • Sex Characteristics

Substances

  • Nootropic Agents
  • Choline