A novel role for cortical acetylcholine in object memory updating

Reactivated long-term memories can become labile and sensitive to modification. Memories in this destabilized state can be weakened or strengthened, but there is limited research characterizing the mechanisms underlying retrieval-induced qualitative updates (i.e., information integration). We have previously implicated cholinergic transmission in object memory destabilization. Here we present a novel rodent paradigm developed to assess the role of this cholinergic mechanism in qualitative memory updating. The post-reactivation object memory modification (PROMM) task exposes rats to contextual information following object memory reactivation. Subsequent object exploratory performance suggests that the contextual information is integrated with the original memory in a reactivation- and time-dependent manner. This effect is blocked by interference with M1 muscarinic receptors and several downstream signals in perirhinal cortex. These findings therefore demonstrate a hitherto unacknowledged cognitive function for acetylcholine with important implications for understanding the dynamic nature of long-term memory storage in the normal and aging brain.