Citidine-5-diphosphocholine Ameliorates the Impairment of Spatial Memory Induced by Scopolamine

Abstract

The memory enhancing effects of orally administered citidine-5-diphosphocholine or citicoline (CDP-choline) on memory impairment without neuronal cell death are still unknown. We investigated the effects of CDP-choline on memory disturbance induced by scopolamine using an eight-armed radial maze task. Orally repeated administration of CDP-choline or histidine significantly restored the errors impaired by scopolamine. CDP-choline may increase hippocampal and neocortical acetylcholine levels. These results suggest that CDP-choline has ameliorative effects on the impairment of spatial memory induced not only by neuronal cell death but also by impaired cholinergic signal.