Brain Tumours

HOW TO TREAT RADIATION-ASSOCIATED NEUROCOGNITIVE SYMPTOMS ?

• Modafinil and fluoxetine as psychostimulants.

• Animal studies have shown that irradiation of the brain adversely affects cholinergic neurons → rationale fro the use of cholinergic neurotransmitter modulators.

• Donepezil is a drug that reversibly inhibits acethylcholine esterase, thus enhancing the cholinergic transmission.

• Donepezil increases cerebral perfusion in brain regions critical to cognitive processing. Howard et al, N Engl J Med, 2012