Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 7, 2026
Quantifying Cognitive Decrements Caused by Cranial Radiotherapy
Published on: October 18, 2011
Post-operative neuro-cognitive rehabilitation after intracranial tumor resection: A systematic review
Saket Myneni1, Deepti Tantry2, A Karim Ahmed2
1Johns Hopkins University Department of Neurosurgery, Baltimore, MD, USA; Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Objective:
Patients who undergo resection of an intracranial tumor face significant deficits in cognitive function due to mass effect and treatment sequelae. However, there has been little investigation of what can be done to alleviate deficits and improve quality of life. This manuscript aims to explore evidence for the use of cognitive rehabilitation in patients undergoing resection of intracranial tumors.
Methods:
Our search string focused on central nervous system (CNS) tumors and rehabilitation programs with the key concepts: "CNS neoplasms," "neurocognitive rehabilitation," and "program." This search string was translated to search PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases. Results were screened for prospective studies with interventions implemented for at least 10 adult patients with intracranial.
Results:
Database exploration identified 70 abstracts between 1983 and 2024 that were screened by two reviewers. Thirty-eight of these studies were excluded after title and abstract screening. Twenty-one of the 32 studies in full text review met exclusion criteria. Ten studies met all inclusion criteria. Nine of these papers described clinical trials of cognitive rehabilitation programs for patients with intracranial tumors. The remaining paper described a pilot study that evaluated using virtual reality and app-based tools for improving function. Most studies saw improvement in select domains and had effect sizes trending in a positive direction, but few found a statistically significant effect.
Conclusions:
Intracranial tumor patients, especially those with a good prognosis, may benefit from postoperative neurocognitive rehabilitation as standard of care. Overall, there is a need for further investigation of neurocognitive rehabilitation programs for these patients.
