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Human spatial memory research has significantly progressed since the development of computerized tasks, with many studies examining sex-related performances. However, few studies explore the underlying electrophysiological correlates according to sex. In this study event-related potentials were compared between male and female participants during the performance of an allocentric spatial recognition task. Twenty-nine university students took part in the research. Results showed that while general performance was similar in both sexes, the brain of males and females displayed a differential activation. Males showed increased N200 modulation than females in the three phases of memory process (encoding, maintenance, and retrieval). Meanwhile females showed increased activation of P300 in the three phases of memory process compared to males. In addition, females exhibited more negative slow wave (NSW) activity during the encoding phase. These differences are discussed in terms of attentional control and the allocation of attentional resources during spatial processing. Our findings demonstrate that sex modulates the resources recruited to performed this spatial task.

Traditionally, the medial temporal lobe has been considered a key brain region for spatial memory. Nevertheless, executive functions, such as working memory, also play an important role in complex behaviors, such as spatial navigation. Thus, the main goal of this study is to clarify the relationship between working memory capacity and spatial memory performance. Spatial memory was assessed using a virtual reality-based procedure, the Boxes Room task, and the visual working memory with the computer-based Change Localization Task. One hundred and twenty-three (n = 123) participants took part in this study. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) revealed a statistically significant relationship between working memory capacity and spatial abilities. Thereafter, two subgroups n = 60, were formed according to their performance in the working memory task (1st and 4th quartiles, n = 30 each). Results demonstrate that participants with high working memory capacity committed fewer mistakes in the spatial task compared to the low working memory capacity group. Both groups improved their performance through repeated trials of the spatial task, thus showing that they could learn spatial layouts independent of their working memory capacity. In conclusion, these findings support that spatial memory performance is directly related to working memory skills. This could be relevant for spatial memory assessment in brain lesioned patients.

Far space and near space refer to different spatial features in which we unfold our behaviour. On the one hand, classical visuospatial neuropsychological tests assess spatial abilities in the near space; on the other, far space typically involves new spatial memory tasks in which participants display their behaviour in an environment, either interacting with objects or searching for targets. The Boxes Room Task is a virtual test that assesses spatial memory in the far space. Based upon this task, a new test was developed in which participants could not move about within the context, but they could actually perceive it from a specific viewpoint. In this work, both versions of the task were compared with one another. Furthermore, they were also compared with the results of 10/36 spatial recall test, a task assessing spatial memory in the near space. Two conditions were applied in all tasks, both in stable and rotated contexts. Our study included one hundred and twenty healthy young participants who were divided into two groups. The first group performed the Walking Space Boxes Room Task. A second group performed the Non-Walking Space Boxes Room Task as well as another traditional neuropsychological test for near space assessment, the 10/36 spatial recall test. Results proved that orientation in the non-walking space was more difficult than in the walking space. Additionally, our test also showed that men outperformed women in both virtual reality-based tasks, although they did not do it in the traditional 10/36 spatial recall test. In short, this work exposes that virtual-reality technologies provide tools to assess spatial memory, being more sensitive than traditional tests in the detection of small performance changes.