How can surgery or radiation affect the brain?
During surgery and radiation therapy to the brain, healthy brain tissue near a tumor may be damaged. Surgical removal of healthy brain tissue, which is often unavoidable when removing a brain tumor, may cause cognitive changes directly attributable to the area of the brain removed or damaged. Surgery may also lead to improvements in cognition by reducing swelling and pressure inside the head. Radiation therapy to the brain may damage the “white matter” tracts in our brain, which are very important for rapid communication between brain regions, as well as affect blood vessels in our brain. These changes can cause cognitive symptoms as well.
