Objective To explore the effects of cluster needling of scalp acupuncture combined with rehabilitation on learning and memory ability and expression of synaptophysin in rats with hippocampal infarction. Methods 50 rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, acupuncture group, rehabilitation group and acupuncture with rehabilitation group, 10 rats in each group. Photochemical method was used to induce hippocampal infarction model. 24 h after modeling, they were intervened respectively. Y-type maze was used to evaluate the learning and memory ability and immunohistochemistry method was used to observe the expression of synaptophysin after 14 d intervention. Results Compared with the sham operation group, the learning and memory ability in the other groups declined,and the expression of synaptophysin increased (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, both the learning and memory ability and the expression of synaptophysin increased in the acupuncture group, the rehabilitation group and the acupuncture with rehabilitation group (P<0.05). The acupuncture with rehabilitation group was better than the acupuncture group and the rehabilitation group (P<0.05). Conclusion The cluster needling of scalp acupuncture combined with rehabilitation can promote the learning and memory ability and the expression of synaptophysin in rats.