Voluntary oral methamphetamine increases memory deficits and contextual sensitization during abstinence associated with decreased PKMζ and increased κOR in the hippocampus of female mice.

Our study reveals sex-specific effects following abstinence from chronic MA consumption on hippocampal κOR and PKMζ expression, suggesting that these neural changes in female mice may underlie spatial memory deficits and identify an increased susceptibility to dysregulated neural mechanisms. These data validate VOMA as a model sensitive to sex differences in behavior and hippocampal neurochemistry following chronic MA exposure.