Sex-Differences in the Relationship between Methamphetamine-Use Experience and Spatial Memory in Non-Treatment Seeking Adults
Abstract
Methamphetamine remains a public health concern in the United States, and its use has been associated with detrimental effects on memory. More specifically, spatial memory deficits after methamphetamine exposure have been heavily researched in the rodent literature and sex-differences have been reported. However, the effects of methamphetamine on spatial memory in human studies remain underinvestigated and sex differences have not been considered. The current study recruited 30 community-dwelling people with recent or current methamphetamine-use experience, and 30 without methamphetamine-use experience people matched on sex and age. All participants completed a computerized spatial reconstruction task where they studied arrays of randomly positioned objects and then, after a short delay, attempted to reconstruct the remembered study array. Accuracy for both the general spatial arrangement and specific object-location bindings as well as various types of spatial-errors were evaluated. Data indicated that both groups were able to remember global features of the task similarly (i.e., the general spatial arrangement). However, large group differences were evident when specific object-location associative binding was assessed. These group differences were driven by males such that males, but not females, with methamphetamine-use experience were significantly impaired at remembering specific object-location pairings. Together, these findings underscore the need to further characterize spatial memory deficits in people with methamphetamine-use experience as such impairments may have detrimental effects on everyday function and spatial navigation. Furthermore, these findings emphasize the need for sex-balanced samples when studying spatial memory in this population, thus affording the opportunity to investigate possible sex differences.
Related
- Advances in digital phenotyping for relapse risk monitoring and community-based treatment and rehabilitation in methamphetamine use disorder
- Sex Differences in Hepatic VLDLR Response to Protein Restriction and Its Relationship with Hepatic Lipid Accumulation
- The longitudinal relationship between subjective exercise experience and physical exercise among university students: the moderating role of motivational beliefs
- Sex-related differences in postoperative complications after pelvic exenteration and their relationship with surgical invasiveness in a multicenter study
- Major differences in the relationship between electronic health literacy, social capital and negative mental health states among the university students in China
BibTeX
@misc{schaefer2026sexdifferences,
title = {{Sex-Differences in the Relationship between Methamphetamine-Use Experience and Spatial Memory in Non-Treatment Seeking Adults}},
author = {Alisha Schaefer and Hyeon Jung Heselton and Hillary Schwarb},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/842ta_v2},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/842ta_v2/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Sex-Differences in the Relationship between Methamphetamine-Use Experience and Spatial Memory in Non-Treatment Seeking Adults
AU - Alisha Schaefer
AU - Hyeon Jung Heselton
AU - Hillary Schwarb
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/19
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/842ta_v2
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/842ta_v2/
AB - Methamphetamine remains a public health concern in the United States, and its use has been associated with detrimental effects on memory. More specifically, spatial memory deficits after methamphetamine exposure have been heavily researched in the rodent literature and sex-differences have been reported. However, the effects of methamphetamine on spatial memory in human studies remain underinvestigated and sex differences have not been considered. The current study recruited 30 community-dwelling people with recent or current methamphetamine-use experience, and 30 without methamphetamine-use experience people matched on sex and age. All participants completed a computerized spatial reconstruction task where they studied arrays of randomly positioned objects and then, after a short delay, attempted to reconstruct the remembered study array. Accuracy for both the general spatial arrangement and specific object-location bindings as well as various types of spatial-errors were evaluated. Data indicated that both groups were able to remember global features of the task similarly (i.e., the general spatial arrangement). However, large group differences were evident when specific object-location associative binding was assessed. These group differences were driven by males such that males, but not females, with methamphetamine-use experience were significantly impaired at remembering specific object-location pairings. Together, these findings underscore the need to further characterize spatial memory deficits in people with methamphetamine-use experience as such impairments may have detrimental effects on everyday function and spatial navigation. Furthermore, these findings emphasize the need for sex-balanced samples when studying spatial memory in this population, thus affording the opportunity to investigate possible sex differences.
ER -