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