Claims extracted
25
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
16%
4 of 25 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
67/100
Fox News's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Health
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Brain games, crosswords and math puzzles are often promoted as ways to sharpen memory, but neurologists warn that generic exercises may not address the specific cause of mental fog.
uncertain
exercises → promote → fog
Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, a professor of neurology at UCLA and co-founder of Cleopatra RX in Los Angeles, says brain exercises only work if they target the specific mental function that is slowing down.
asserted
that → say → function
"You can’t just do random cognitive exercises," Voskuhl told Fox News Digital at the Livelong Women’s Health Summit in New York City in September.
asserted
Voskuhl → do → September
"They’ve got to fit the problem."
asserted
They → get → problem
The problem, she said, is verbal memory.
asserted
she → say → ?
"Doing math is not going to help …
asserted
Doing → do → math
You need an exercise that will help you with words."
asserted
that → need → words
Mental fog — especially the kind triggered by midlife hormone changes during perimenopause and menopause — impacts very specific areas of the brain, according to Voskuhl.
uncertain
fog → trigger → Voskuhl
When estrogen levels drop, overall intelligence and basic logic remain completely normal.
asserted
intelligence → drop → ?
Instead, the brain takes a hit in two main areas: verbal memory (recalling names and words) and processing speed (thinking quickly under pressure), experts say.
asserted
experts → take → pressure
Games like Sudoku and other number puzzles primarily exercise logic and math skills, so they may not improve word-recall difficulties.
uncertain
they → exercise → difficulties
"It’s not a global problem with the brain," Voskuhl said.
asserted
Voskuhl → ’ → brain
"It’s not global brain atrophy, but there are some regions on MRIs and research studies that show that the hippocampus, the memory area, will have some atrophies, some functional connection issues.
asserted
hippocampus → ’ → atrophies
To understand why word-based exercises may help, it is useful to distinguish between the following two stages of memory, experts say.
uncertain
experts → understand → memory
- Encoding: How the brain takes in and stores new information
- Retrieval: How the brain pulls up that stored information when it's needed
Brain fog typically affects retrieval, not encoding.
asserted
fog → take → retrieval
The word or name is still stored safely in the memory, but the brain's search engine is running slowly.
asserted
engine → store → memory
Building a better brain workout
To effectively target brain fog, Voskuhl says exercises need to focus on two things: finding words and working quickly.
asserted
exercises → build → words
"It’s basically processing speed," she said.
asserted
she → ’ → ?
"So you need an exercise that is going to be something that makes you rush, makes you do it quickly."
asserted
you → need → it
The following types of exercises target processing speed and active word recall.
asserted
types → target → speed
Instead of using generic puzzle apps, Voskuhl recommends paying attention to where you stumble in daily life and picking games that match those challenges.
asserted
that → use → challenges
People "know themselves," she said — "what they are bad at or what they used to be good at and now they’re not as good at ...
asserted
they → know → what
Once you know those things, you should think about what kind of games [to play].
asserted
you → know → games
You can play around with different games.
asserted
You → play → games
You can see if it pushes you."
asserted
it → see → you
The Aporia
