Evidence of compensatory neural hyperactivity in a subgroup of breast cancer survivors treated with chemotherapy and its association with brain aging

IntroductionChemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) remains poorly understood in terms of the mechanisms of cognitive decline. Neural hyperactivity has been reported on average in cancer survivors, but it is unclear which patients demonstrate this neurophenotype, limiting precision medicine in this population.MethodsWe evaluated a retrospective sample of 80 breast cancer survivors and 80 non-cancer controls, aged 35–73, for which we had previously identified and validated three data-driven, biological subgroups (biotypes) of CRCI. We measured neural activity using the z-normalized percent amplitude of fluctuation from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We tested established, quantitative criteria to determine whether hyperactivity can accurately be considered compensatory. We also calculated the brain age gap by applying a previously validated algorithm to anatomic MRI.ResultsWe found that neural activity differed across the three CRCI biotypes and controls (F = 13.5, p