As the use of chemotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer has advanced, the survival rates for cancer patients have significantly increased; however, as a result of these increased life spans, the after effects of chemotherapy treatment have become more noticeable. Chemobrain is a neurological syndrome, reported by patients often long after chemotherapy treatment has concluded, that is characterized by decreased cognitive function, memory, and concentration. To study chemobrain, my group has employed two separate model organisms: rats and zebrafish. Dopamine release and uptake characteristics were measured with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry at carbon-fiber microelectrodes (FSCV) in acutely harvested brain tissues slices from rats treated with chemotherapeutic agents. In conjunction with these measurements, we applied behavioral paradigms designed to measure different aspects of cognitive behavior. We also measured dopamine release and uptake characteristics in whole brains harvested from zebrafish treated with chemotherapeutic agents. Collectively, this work suggests that impaired neurotransmitter release may play an important role in chemobrain.

Unraveling the neurochemistry of ‘chemobrain’

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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