Vitamin B12 improves cognitive disturbance in rodents fed a choline-deficient diet.

The effect of vitamin B12 on learning disturbance was tested in rats. Rats were fed a choline-enriched, choline-deficient, and choline-deficient diet with vitamin B12. Concentrations of acetylcholine in the brain were significantly lower in rats fed a choline-deficient diet than rats fed a choline-enriched diet. Passive avoidance learning shows that rats on a choline-deficient diet showed significantly impaired learning compared to rats on a choline-enriched diet. However, there was no significant difference of acetylcholine in the brain or in the passive avoidance learning between rats fed a choline-enriched and a choline-deficient with vitamin B12 diet. We, therefore, suggest that vitamin B12 potentiates learning in an acetylcholine-deprived brain.