Research reportCholine acetyltransferase in the hippocampus is associated with learning strategy preference in adult male rats

•Rats categorized as place learners exhibited a distinct behavioral phenotype on the probe trial, but not on the training trials.•Levels of choline acetyltransferase were elevated in the dorsal hippocampus of rats that exhibited a preference for a place learning strategy.•Levels of high-affinity choline transporter in hippocampus were not associated with learning strategy preference.

One principle of the multiple memory systems hypothesis posits that the hippocampus-based and striatum-based memory systems compete for control over learning. Consistent with this notion, previous research indicates that the cholinergic system of the hippocampus plays a role in modulating the preference for a hippocampus-based place learning strategy over a striatum-based stimulus−response learning strategy. Interestingly, in the hippocampus, greater activity and higher protein levels of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), the enzyme that synthesizes acetylcholine, are associated with better performance on hippocampus-based learning and memory tasks. With this in mind, the primary aim of the current study was to determine if higher levels of ChAT and the high-affinity choline uptake transporter (CHT) in the hippocampus were associated with a preference for a hippocampus-based place learning strategy on a task that also could be solved by relying on a striatum-based stimulus−response learning strategy. Results confirmed that levels of ChAT in the dorsal region of the hippocampus were associated with a preference for a place learning strategy on a water maze task that could also be solved by adopting a stimulus−response learning strategy. Consistent with previous studies, the current results support the hypothesis that the cholinergic system of the hippocampus plays a role in balancing competition between memory systems that modulate learning strategy preference.