Study finds chemo brain exercises help with symptoms
People experiencing problems with their memory and concentration following chemotherapy treatment can help overcome symptoms using simple online brain training exercises.
Cancer survivors often comment on both memory and concentration problems after having had chemotherapy treatment, this is often refered to as ‘chemo brain’.
A group of researchers found that 40 minutes a day, four times a week for 15 weeks of online brain training resulted in a significant improvement of these cognitive symptoms.
In addition to this, a decrease in anxiety, depression, fatigue and stress was also noted. When these parameters were retested six months later, it was seen that these survivors still retained the benefits of their brain training.
Dr Victoria Bray, who undertook the research at the University of Sydney, said: There is an increase in the general awareness of the negative impact that cancer and cancer treatments can have on an individual’s ability to think clearly.
“However, up until now, very little has been known about what can be done to help these people.”
Dr Bray continued: “The results of this study are encouraging and pleasing to see that the skills that participants worked on in front of the screen appear to have translated into improvements in cognitive symptoms and impact on mood and quality of life.
“This study has the potential to provide a new home based treatment option for cancer survivors with cognitive symptoms, whereas previously none existed,” she added.
The brain training which this group undertook was similar to the exercises in some books found on our main Live Better With website, including The Brain Fitness Workout, Pocket Posh Brain Games and The Must Have 2016 Sudoku Puzzle Book.