Chronic intake of ethanol in rat results in a substantial and permanent impairment in memory function which can be ameliorated by intracortical grafting of fetal tissue derived from the primordial basal forebrain. The present study demonstrates that grafting of purified astrocytes is equally effective in improving the performance in the eight-arm radial maze. In comparison, the rate of behavioral recovery is even more accelerated after grafting of astrocytes than after fetal basal forebrain transplants. The improvement in memory function can be detected as early as 2 weeks after operation and is accompanied by an increase in the activity of choline acetyltransferase in the basal forebrain previously reduced after ethanol treatment. Graft-induced behavioral recovery in the present paradigm is most likely due to a neurotrophic influence of astrocytes mediated via the cholinergic basal forebrain system.