Growing research shows how two of the major cancer treatments, radiation and chemotherapy, can lead to long-term cognitive impairment

By SharpBrains | June 5, 2020

Mind jum­ble: Under­stand­ing chemo brain (Stan­ford Med­i­cine): Sarah Liu was treat­ed for leukemia as a teenag­er. She attend­ed her high school grad­u­a­tion on a four-hour pass from Lucile Packard Children’s Hos­pi­tal Stan­ford and was bald under her white grad­u­a­tion cap, her arm ban­daged where she’d been receiv­ing chemother­a­py drugs. Liu sur­vived can­cer and the ordeal of…

Read More

Finally, growing awareness of chemotherapy-induced cognitive deficits

By SharpBrains | May 29, 2014

Brain activ­i­ty changes seen after chemo (Reuters): “For some women with breast can­cer, changes in brain activ­i­ty while mul­ti­task­ing could explain “chemo brain” – reduced men­tal func­tion­ing that many expe­ri­ence after chemother­a­py, Bel­gian researchers say. “Cog­ni­tive com­plaints of peo­ple increase with chemother­a­py and 

Read More

Measuring and treating Chemo Brain

By SharpBrains | October 3, 2012

‘Chemo Brain’ After Breast Can­cer Backed by Study (US News): “Breast can­cer patients treat­ed with chemother­a­py are at risk for mild men­tal deficits known col­lec­tive­ly as “chemo brain,” a new study finds. Researchers at the Mof­fitt Can­cer Cen­ter in Tam­pa, Fla., reviewed exist­ing research on brain func­tion (“cog­ni­tive” func­tion­ing) in

Read More

Update: Time to become mental capitalists and invest in our brains?

By Alvaro Fernandez | November 30, 2011

Time for the Novem­ber edi­tion of the month­ly Sharp­Brains eNewslet­ter, fea­tur­ing a wealth of resources and insights on how to invest in our brains, includ­ing top­ics such as brain health, med­i­ta­tion, neu­ropsy­chol­o­gy, brain train­ing games, chemo brain, dyslex­ia, neu­ro­plas­tic­i­ty, cog­ni­tive bias­es, stress, and more. Not to for­get a cou­ple of fun teasers. Enjoy! Brain Fit­ness Q&A…

Read More

Research on ‘Chemo Brain’: MRI Shows Brain Changes After Chemotherapy

By SharpBrains | November 17, 2011 |

‘Chemo Brain’: MRI Shows Brain Changes After Chemother­a­py (Med­scape): — “Breast can­cer sur­vivors who have been treat­ed with chemother­a­py show sig­nif­i­cant changes in brain activ­i­ty, mea­sured by func­tion­al mag­net­ic res­o­nance imag­ing (fMRI), accord­ing to a study pub­lished in the Novem­ber issue of the Archives of Neu­rol­o­gy.” — “The find­ing val­i­dates patients’ claims of reduced cog­ni­tive func­tion after…

Read More

Chemo Brain and Brain Training

By Dr. Pascale Michelon | May 5, 2011

Chemo brain or chemo fog refers to the cog­ni­tive changes that can occur dur­ing and after chemother­a­py. These changes may trans­late into mem­o­ry laps­es, motor prob­lems, dif­fi­cul­ty find­ing words and prob­lems man­ag­ing mul­ti­ple tasks and learn­ing new things. Although the caus­es of the phe­nom­e­non are still under debate, it is nonethe­less a real prob­lem, affecting…

Read More