chemo brain

American

[kee-moh breyn] / ˈki moʊ ˌbreɪn /

noun

Medicine/Medical Informal.

a common side effect of some cancer treatments that is characterized by cognitive impairments, such as memory and recall difficulties, confusion, difficulty concentrating, or loss of mental alertness.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"From our previous work, we know that this gamma sensory stimulation has anti-inflammatory effects, so we decided to use the chemo brain model to test whether sensory gamma stimulation can be beneficial."

From Science Daily • Mar. 6, 2024

MIT researchers have now shown that a noninvasive treatment that stimulates gamma frequency brain waves may hold promise for treating chemo brain.

From Science Daily • Mar. 6, 2024

She completed that with "chemo brain" but said the university was "amazing" at supporting her.

From BBC • Feb. 25, 2022

It also is observational, so does not show exercise causes thinking to be unaffected by chemo, only that women who move also experience less chemo brain.

From New York Times • Oct. 6, 2021

Marjie Popkin thought she had chemo brain, that fuzzy-headed forgetful state she figured was a result of her treatment for ovarian cancer.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 18, 2010

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023