Arecoline Facilitates Object Recognition in Mice

Arecoline, a major alkaloid in betel nuts, modulates cognitive function, yet its effects on memory in young, healthy mice remain unclear. We administered arecoline or vehicle to mice and allowed them to perform a novel object recognition task to investigate whether and how acute arecoline administration affected object recognition. Arecoline-treated mice exhibited a significantly higher discrimination index than controls, indicating improved discrimination performance. This enhancement occurred without changes in locomotor activity, anxiety-like behavior, or general exploratory motivation. Time-series analysis further revealed that arecoline treatment led to sustained high discrimination ability during the test session, compared to vehicle treatment. These findings demonstrate that acute arecoline administration enhances object recognition even in a healthy physiological state, possibly by facilitating cholinergic-mediated attention and memory encoding.