Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy have long complained of cognitive problems that make it hard to focus on tasks or remember things. They’ve dubbed it chemo brain, but clinicians have wondered if such a reaction is real.
Neurological Changes Due to Chemotherapy
Now, investigators in British Columbia have confirmed that people complaining of chemo brain have neurological changes that make it hard to concentrate. The investigators used electroencephalograms to assess global brain activity in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. The women were given tasks while their brain function was being monitored.
The researchers described the output of the EEG as showing brains that were not engaged. This and other research suggests that chemo brain is real and that it may take time for people to recover full cognitive function.
Clinical Neurophysiology, online March 25, 2015
