Magnitude of sex differences in spatial abilities: A meta-analysis and consideration of critical variables.

Voyer, Daniel; Voyer, Susan D.; Bryden, M.P.

doi:10.1037/0033-2909.117.2.250

Cited by 2,405 publications

(2,114 citation statements)

References 201 publications

(105 reference statements)

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“…Interestingly, the rare allele of rs147546024: A4G was associated with better cognitive performance on blockdesign test which is designed to assess visuospatial ability. Similar to some studies which have described a sex difference in cognitive ability with a male advantage on the spatial domains, 34 our study confirmed slight, but not significant, higher scoring of males on block-design test. It is known that better performance on block-design test is associated with autistic spectrum disorder [35][36][37] and DMD is recognized as one of susceptibility genes for autism disorder.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

The dystrophin gene and cognitive function in the general population

et al. 2014

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The aim of our study is to investigate whether single-nucleotide dystrophin gene (DMD) variants associate with variability in cognitive functions in healthy populations. The study included 1240 participants from the Erasmus Rucphen family (ERF) study and 1464 individuals from the Rotterdam Study (RS). The participants whose exomes were sequenced and who were assessed for various cognitive traits were included in the analysis. To determine the association between DMD variants and cognitive ability, linear (mixed) modeling with adjustment for age, sex and education was used. Moreover, Sequence Kernel Association Test (SKAT) was used to test the overall association of the rare genetic variants present in the DMD with cognitive traits. Although no DMD variant surpassed the prespecified significance threshold (Po1 × 10 − 4 ), rs147546024:A4G showed strong association (β = 1.786, P-value = 2.56 × 10 − 4 ) with block-design test in the ERF study, while another variant rs1800273:G4A showed suggestive association (β = − 0.465, P-value = 0.002) with Mini-Mental State Examination test in the RS. Both variants are highly conserved, although rs147546024:A4G is an intronic variant, whereas rs1800273:G4A is a missense variant in the DMD which has a predicted damaging effect on the protein. Further gene-based analysis of DMD revealed suggestive association (P-values = 0.087 and 0.074) with general cognitive ability in both cohorts. In conclusion, both single variant and gene-based analyses suggest the existence of variants in the DMD which may affect cognitive functioning in the general populations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

The dystrophin gene and cognitive function in the general population

et al. 2014

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“…The findings are consistent with previous studies reporting a female advantage in object location memory (e.g., Eals & Silverman, 1994;Hill et al, 1995;James & Kimura, 1997;McBurney et al, 1997;Silverman & Eals, 1992) compared to other forms of spatial cognition where a male advantage is evident (such as mental rotation; Voyer et al, 1995). In contrast to Eals and Silverman (1994) and Silverman and Eals (1992), who employed nonstandardized versions of object memory and object location tests, we demonstrated some support for McBurney et al's (1997) assertion that any female advantage is for recall of spatial locations per se rather than memory for object identity using a standard neuropsychological paradigm.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Typically, males excel on spatial tasks involving mental rotation of three-dimensional figures, spatial visualization (such as mental paper folding), disembedding (finding simple figures hidden in more complex forms), spatial perception (determining horizontal and vertical angles), maze navigation, and targeting and intercepting objects (e.g., Halpern, 1992;Kimura, 1999;Voyer et al, 1995). The origins of these differences are unknown, but has been variably attributed to differences in cerebral lateralization, sociocultural factors and (more recently) the influence of organizational and activational effects of gonadal hormones (Collaer & Hines, 1995;Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974;O'Connor et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual orientation related differences in spatial memory

Rahman

Wilson

Abrahams

2003

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

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The purpose of this study was to investigate and extend previously reported sex differences in object location memory by comparing the performance of heterosexual and homosexual males and females. Subjects were 240 healthy, right-handed heterosexual and homosexual males and females. They were instructed to study 16 common, gender-neutral objects arranged randomly in an array and subsequently tested for object recall, object recognition and spatial location memory. Females recalled significantly more objects than males, although there were no group differences in object recognition. Decomposition of significant interactions between sex and sexual orientation on spatial location memory (controlling for differences in object recall, age and IQ) revealed that heterosexual females and homosexual males scored better than heterosexual males, and no different from each other. There were no differences between homosexual and heterosexual females. The findings suggest that homosexual males and heterosexual females encode, store and retrieve positional and relational information about spatial layouts similarly, pointing to within-sex variations in the neural architecture underlying spatial memory. (JINS, 2003, 9, 376-383.)

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“…Similarly, our findings on the Mental Rotations Test extend previous findings with the Rod and Frame Test [19] and a measure of spatial ability composed of the Rod and Frame Test, Hidden Figures, and the Space Relations Test [17]. Our comparatively large effect size of about a standard deviation is not surprising given that the Mental Rotations Test produces one of the larger and more reliable sex differences [52]. Our finding of a significant negative relationship between estrogen and mental rotations contrasts with Hampson's report of an inverted-U function between estrogen and Space Relations scores.…”

Section: Sexually Dimorphic Abilitiessupporting

confidence: 88%

“…We found no significant correlation between mental rotations and FOI priming, suggesting that although both tests vary negatively with estradiol, they tap different abilities. FOI performance may be mediated in part by spatial visualization, a skill that also shows significant sex differences as measured by tests of figural disembedding in which participants identify a simple geometric figure embedded within a more complex pattern [52]. Studies are underway to examine the relationship between spatial visualization and FOI priming.…”

Section: Perceptual Implicit Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Implicit memory varies across the menstrual cycle: estrogen effects in young women

2002

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Evidence that ovarian steroid hormones such as estrogen and progesterone affect cognition comes from studies of memory in older women receiving estrogen replacement therapy and studies of sexually dimorphic skills in young women across the menstrual cycle. Sixteen women (ages 18-28) completed tests of memory (implicit category exemplar generation, category-cued recall, implicit fragmented object identification) and sexually dimorphic skills (fine motor coordination, verbal fluency, mental rotations) at the early follicular (low estrogen and progesterone) and midluteal (high estrogen and progesterone) phases of the menstrual cycle. Performance on category exemplar generation, a test of conceptual implicit memory, was better at the midluteal than the follicular phase. In contrast, performance on a test of explicit memory, category-cued recall, did not vary across the menstrual cycle. At Session 1, women in the follicular phase performed better on the fragmented object identification task than did those in the midluteal phase. This unexpected finding suggests that high levels of ovarian hormones might inhibit perceptual object priming. Results confirmed previous reports of decreased mental rotations and improved motor skills and fluency in the midluteal phase. Estradiol levels correlated positively with verbal fluency and negatively with mental rotations and perceptual priming, which suggest that estrogen, and not progesterone, was responsible for the observed changes in cognition. Mood did not vary across the cycle phases. Overall, the findings suggest that estrogen may facilitate the automatic activation of verbal representations in memory.

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Magnitude of sex differences in spatial abilities: A meta-analysis and consideration of critical variables.

Cited by 2,405 publications

References 201 publications

The dystrophin gene and cognitive function in the general population

The dystrophin gene and cognitive function in the general population

Sexual orientation related differences in spatial memory

Implicit memory varies across the menstrual cycle: estrogen effects in young women

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