Sharpen memory and fight brain fog with simple 60-second trick from a neurologist

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.

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.

"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. "They’ve got to fit the problem."

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The problem, she said, is verbal memory. "Doing math is not going to help … You need an exercise that will help you with 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.

When estrogen levels drop, overall intelligence and basic logic remain completely normal. 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.

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Games like Sudoku and other number puzzles primarily exercise logic and math skills, so they may not improve word-recall difficulties.

"It’s not a global problem with the brain," Voskuhl said. "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."

To understand why word-based exercises may help, it is useful to distinguish between the following two stages of memory, experts say.

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Brain fog typically affects retrieval, not encoding. The word or name is still stored safely in the memory, but the brain's search engine is running slowly.

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To effectively target brain fog, Voskuhl says exercises need to focus on two things: finding words and working quickly.

"It’s basically processing speed," she said. "So you need an exercise that is going to be something that makes you rush, makes you do it quickly."

The following types of exercises target processing speed and active word recall.

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Instead of using generic puzzle apps, Voskuhl recommends paying attention to where you stumble in daily life and picking games that match those 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 ... Once you know those things, you should think about what kind of games [to play]. You can play around with different games. You can see if it pushes you."

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Catholic alcohol consumption drops to record low as Americans rethink moderate drinking habits

A historic shift in American drinking habits shows Catholic alcohol consumption reaching record lows, though scientific experts caution against attributing the drop strictly to religious or cultural changes.

The share of Catholic adults in the United States who report drinking alcohol has fallen to 55%, according to a Gallup report authored by analyst Frank Newport.

That marks a decline from the 2002–2004 period, when 79% of Catholics reported consuming alcoholic beverages. Over that same timeframe, self-reported Protestant drinking rates remained flat at 54%.

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"Drinking has dropped significantly within both the group of those who have no religious identity and, in particular, among Catholics," Newport wrote in the analysis.

However, experts urged caution when drawing sweeping conclusions from subgroup survey data.

Dr. Joshua Gowin, an associate professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus who studies alcohol's effects on the brain, noted that self-reported polling figures can fluctuate based on sampling.

"There's definitely a general pattern of alcohol use decreasing across groups," Gowin told Fox News Digital.

"As far as the subgroups go, it wasn't clear or necessarily compelling to me that one group was showing a broad trend that wasn't reflected in the other groups," he went on. 

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"It seemed like really only one data point showed that effect ... which made me a little skeptical that this is a broader phenomenon versus a single survey sample."

Despite methodological limitations in tracking specific religious subgroups, researchers agree that broader social and health trends are driving a shift in overall drinking habits.

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Gallup findings indicate that a majority of Americans now view moderate drinking — defined as one or two drinks per day — as bad for their health.

In the latest polling, 52% of Catholics said moderate alcohol consumption is bad for health, alongside 56% of adults with no religious affiliation and 48% of Protestants.

Gowin noted that this public shift reflects decades of neuroscience and medical research.

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"Twenty years ago, there was still kind of a push and pull between some benefits of alcohol and then some things that even then we knew were potentially harmful," he said.

"Over time, we've gotten a lot more clarity on the things that are bad for our health ... the balance has just shifted more in favor of the evidence for negative health effects."

Gowin pointed out that large-scale neuroimaging studies now consistently link higher alcohol consumption to reduced brain volume, reinforcing public health warnings.

Researchers also attribute shifting consumption patterns to broader societal changes, including shifts in social behavior and loneliness.

Much of America's alcohol consumption has historically occurred in group settings, and changes in how people gather socially may be influencing drinking habits, they believe.

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At the same time, experts caution that a drop in general social drinking does not mean severe alcohol problems have dissolved.

"One of the things that is a bit of a contradiction ... is that although the overall prevalence among all adults is down for the number of drinkers, there is actually a larger number of alcohol-related deaths in the past few years," Gowin noted.

"It's not like the serious problems have gone away."

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Jalen Hurts puts spotlight on blood thinners: 5 mistakes that could put patients at risk

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts' diagnosis of blood clots in both lungs has put blood thinners in the spotlight.

Hurts is receiving treatment with the medication and is expected to miss the remainder of the 2026 season, according to the NFL.

Even young, physically active people can develop dangerous blood clots, especially when risk factors such as an injury, long travel or recent surgery combine. "Being in shape lowers your risk, but it doesn’t make you immune," said Dr. Joseph V. Lombardi, chief physician executive at AtlantiCare.

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Hurts’ case also highlights the precautions patients taking blood thinners may need to follow.

The medication can help prevent dangerous clots from growing or forming but can also make it harder for the body to stop bleeding after an injury — a concern for athletes playing high-contact sports or anyone who falls or gets hurt.

"Taking [blood thinners] consistently, understanding potential interactions, and recognizing warning signs can greatly reduce the risk of complications," Dr. Yazan Abou-Ismail, a hematologist and thrombosis expert at the University of Utah, told Fox News Digital.

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Here are five mistakes patients should avoid:

While some patients only need blood thinners for a limited time, others may need them long term. When a clot has a clear cause, such as an injury, treatment often lasts about three months, Lombardi told Fox News Digital.

The duration depends on factors including the reason for treatment and whether a patient has had previous clots, Abou-Ismail added. Stopping too soon can raise the risk of another clot, while continuing longer than prescribed may increase bleeding risk.

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Patients should not stop or extend treatment without speaking with their doctor.

Missing doses repeatedly can weaken a medication's protection against clots, Abou-Ismail said, but what to do after a missed dose depends on the specific drug.

Patients should follow the instructions for the prescription or call their pharmacist or doctor — not automatically take an extra dose to make up for a missed one.

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Aspirin and NSAIDs including ibuprofen can increase bleeding risk when taken with blood thinners, Abou-Ismail said. Some prescription drugs and supplements, including fish oil and turmeric, can also affect bleeding or medication levels.

Patients should ask a doctor or pharmacist before taking anything new, even if it is sold over the counter.

Some bruising or minor bleeding may occur but persistent nosebleeds, blood in the urine or unexplained increases in bruising warrant a call to a health care provider, Abou-Ismail said.

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Uncontrolled bleeding, vomiting blood, black or tarry stools, a sudden severe headache or new confusion, vision changes or trouble speaking require urgent care.

After a significant head injury, patients should seek medical evaluation, even if they initially feel fine, experts note.

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A hard hit or fall can lead to serious bleeding in patients taking a blood thinner, which is why Hurts cannot play football during treatment.

Patients should ask their doctor which activities are safe for them. Some may be able to continue exercising but contact sports and other activities with a high risk of injury warrant extra caution.

Blood thinners do not dissolve an existing clot, Lombardi cautioned. They help prevent it from growing while the body clears it over time. The right treatment and precautions vary, so patients should contact their care team with questions about doses, side effects or activity.

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Christina Applegate's MS misdiagnosis after 5 years of treatment exposes alarming medical reality

Christina Applegate’s recent revelation that she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis is raising questions about how the disease can be confused with other conditions — even after years of treatment.

The actress, 54, shared the news during an Oct. 20 episode of her podcast, "MeSsy," alongside co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler, saying she was in a complete "state of shock."

Applegate was first diagnosed with MS in 2021 after experiencing debilitating symptoms and undergoing extensive testing, including brain and spinal MRIs and a spinal tap. She said doctors found dozens of lesions on her brain.

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After years of treatment, her doctor decided to stop her regular infusions and monitor her B cells.

"And my B cells didn't change. They didn't go higher, they didn't go lower, they didn't change, and she had never seen that. So I guess that began kind of a study into my diagnosis," Applegate shared.

After additional brain scans, the doctor came into Applegate’s room and said, "Congratulations, you don't have MS."

The actress did not consider this to be good news, however.

"Because you don't get misdiagnosed and then all of a sudden [you’re] better," she said. "I haven't gotten better … If anything, I've gotten worse in some ways."

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Applegate noted that she has "every symptom" of someone with MS, adding that there are many conditions that mirror the disease.

She recalled that her MRIs clearly showed around 30 lesions, but said her neurologist identified a different feature — which she described as a "string" — that led to the conclusion that she did not have MS.

"So I'm back at square one [and] don't know what's going on with me."

Dr. Marwa Kaisey, an associate professor of neurology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, said during a follow-up "MeSsy" podcast episode that misdiagnosis of MS is "fairly common."

In a study of patients referred to MS clinics at UCLA and Cedars-Sinai, Kaisey — who has not treated Applegate — said she found that nearly one in five who arrived with an MS diagnosis ultimately did not have the disease.

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"Some [had been diagnosed] for decades," she said. "And a majority of them were on medication to treat their MS."

The primary challenge, according to the doctor, is that there is no single test for MS. "It's not like we have something like a pregnancy test that says, yes, you have it, no, you don't."

Instead, Kaisey said, "It's a list of criteria, some of which remain a little bit subjective."

Most misdiagnosed patients did have some type of white matter spots, or lesions, on their MRI scans, Kaisey noted, but they had a different cause that was not MS.

Newer imaging techniques may help doctors distinguish MS lesions from white matter spots caused by other conditions.

Kaisey pointed to the "central vein sign," an MRI finding that looks for small blood vessels running through the center of lesions, which is a characteristic associated with MS. The sign was incorporated into updated MS diagnostic criteria to help doctors determine whether white matter lesions are consistent with the disease.

Richard Ransohoff, MD, a Boston-based neurologist who sits on the Board of Directors for the American Brain Foundation, called the central vein sign "a real step forward" in distinguishing MS lesions from other abnormalities.

"Things are getting better, and even in the time that Ms. Applegate has been having her symptoms and her evaluation, things have gotten better," said Ransohoff, who also has not treated the actress.

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Many of the symptoms of MS — such as tingling or numbness in the feet, fatigue and brain fog — are very common in other conditions as well, according to both neurologists.

"To distinguish MS from its mimics can be challenging, and doctors, even with the best intentions … can sometimes still get it wrong," Kaisey said. "To diagnose MS, we need a symptom that's kind of very specific to MS, and we also need the MRI that looks like MS."

Kaisey said she has found that being "undiagnosed" with MS can be even harder than receiving the initial diagnosis, particularly when the disease has become intertwined with someone's identity, family and community.

"So to suddenly take that away, I think it’s earth-shattering. It's life-changing in a huge way."

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The neurologist emphasized that patients should feel comfortable asking questions and getting a second opinion.

"Don't be afraid to do that, especially if something inside is telling you that you need to dig a little deeper," she advised.

Ransohoff reiterated that MS misdiagnoses are common. "It’s a tough diagnosis, and there is no single element in the diagnostic process that tells you with 100% certainty that it is MS," he told Fox News Digital.

The neurologist said even after a diagnosis, doctors should "keep an open mind" and be willing to reconsider.

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"If things start going differently from your expectations, if the person begins to have symptoms that really don't fit in with MS, or they don't respond to treatment, then you really start to put on your thinking cap and say, ‘What else could this be?’"

"It requires the ultimate in humility as a physician. You simply have to say there are certain things we know and certain things we don't know."

Classic early MS symptoms tend to appear relatively quickly, persist for weeks and then recede, according to Ransohoff.

Anything producing a similar pattern can potentially mimic the disease. Some of those conditions may include certain strokes in younger people, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disease (a rare autoimmune disease of the central nervous system), MOG antibody disease (a rare autoimmune inflammatory disorder), lupus and migraine, he said.

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Migraine is one of the most common alternative diagnoses, both neurologists agreed.

Kaisey noted that migraine can also produce MRI abnormalities in the form of white spots, although they are usually smaller and in a different shape and location.

"If you're not looking closely at the MRI or you don't know exactly what to look for, you can confuse the two," she said.

In some cases, reversing an MS diagnosis can actually provide a concrete alternative diagnosis and better-targeted treatment — but that did not happen in Applegate’s case, Ransohoff noted.

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"You have to have tremendous sympathy for her suffering in that context, because even when treatment is not going as well as you would like, it's better to know what you're dealing with," he said.

"Facing the unknown when you feel crappy is a very tough road to go."

To prevent misdiagnosis, Ransohoff recommends that everyone who receives a multiple sclerosis diagnosis is seen by a specialist at a specialty MS center, who has developed pattern recognition after many occurrences of seeing the disease.

The neurologist noted that MS treatment has advanced dramatically over the course of his career, growing from virtually no options to more than 20 medications today.

"You want to work with someone who has experience with all those medicines, with all the various patterns that MS can show, because every person's MS is different," he said.

If a treatment isn’t helping or is causing significant side effects, an MS specialist can reassess the approach and help identify a more appropriate medication, Ransohoff added.

The doctor emphasized that the outlook for people who do have MS has improved dramatically.

"The person who's diagnosed with MS today is totally different from 40 years ago when I got started," the neurologist said. "If the diagnosis is correct and the treatment is correct, then they should do pretty well with their MS."

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Knee treatment without surgery offers lasting pain relief for 80% of arthritis patients, study finds

A non-surgical procedure that temporarily blocks extra blood vessels in the knee is offering lasting pain relief for people with knee osteoarthritis.

In a clinical study of 194 patients, 80% of them reported significant reductions in knee pain that lasted for at least a full year after receiving the treatment.

The findings highlight a potential alternative for millions of adults with chronic joint pain who have outgrown pain medications or steroid injections — but who want to avoid total knee replacement.

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Osteoarthritis wears down joint cartilage and causes the body to grow unnecessary new blood vessels around the knee, according to Mayo Clinic. 

These extra vessels increase inflammation and irritate surrounding nerves, making daily movement painful.

The procedure, known as genicular artery embolization (GAE), addresses this directly. 

By temporarily clogging excess blood vessels, doctors can reduce inflammation and quiet pain-sensing nerves without major surgery or permanent implants.

Because the treatment uses microscopic gelatin particles that dissolve over time, it leaves no foreign material behind. If widely adopted, GAE could provide a repeatable, low-risk way for patients to stay active and preserve joint function longer, researchers say.

"For many patients with knee osteoarthritis, there is a real treatment gap today," said Florian Nima Fleckenstein, M.D., deputy head of Interventional Radiology Campus Mitte, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, in a press release.

"Our study demonstrates that GAE using rapidly resorbable gelatin-based microspheres is a safe, minimally invasive therapy that provides meaningful pain relief and functional improvement in participants with osteoarthritis-related knee symptoms for at least 12 months."

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During GAE, doctors use real-time X-ray guidance to steer a thin, flexible tube into the blood vessels surrounding the knee joint. 

Then they release tiny, dissolvable gelatin particles into specific vessels to slow excess blood flow to the inflamed areas.

Across 239 total procedures performed on 194 study participants, none experienced severe complications. 

Only 6.7% reported mild side effects, such as brief skin discoloration or minor bruising, issues that resolved on their own.

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"In our cohort, we saw a significant drop in pain and a significant increase in function, including sports and recreation and daily activity," Fleckenstein said.

"Most importantly, their quality of life significantly increased."

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In addition to feeling less pain, participants experienced gains in daily mobility. Patients reported easier walking, climbing stairs and bending, while overall quality-of-life scores more than doubled over the 12-month follow-up period.

While the results are promising, researchers note several important limitations.

First, the study did not include a control group receiving a mock or placebo procedure. 

Without a comparison group, it is difficult to isolate the physical benefits of the dissolvable particles from potential placebo effects, the researchers said. 

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Second, the study tracked patients for only one year. 

Further research is needed to determine how long the pain relief typically lasts and how often repeat treatments might be required.

Finally, while GAE effectively reduces inflammation and pain, the researchers said it is not a cure.

The procedure does not rebuild lost cartilage or reverse structural joint damage. Larger, randomized trials are currently underway to confirm these early findings.

Fox News Digital reached out to the study authors for further comment. 

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Popular sleep aids before surgery could prevent painkiller dependence later

Taking melatonin or Ambien (zolpidem) before surgery may be associated with less pain and a smoother recovery afterward, according to new research.

Research presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2026 annual meeting in San Diego on Oct. 18 found that improving sleep before surgery with one of these two sleep aids could ease anxiety while reducing post-surgical pain and opioid use.

The researchers analyzed 16 studies of patients who underwent abdominal, gynecologic, orthopedic, urologic, dental and other surgical procedures between 2000 and 2025.

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This amounted to more than 1,100 patients, according to a press release from the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Melatonin was typically taken the night before surgery and/or 20 to 90 minutes before anesthesia, with dosages ranging from 1 mg to 20 mg.

Ambien, consistently dosed at 10 mg, was taken at bedtime either the night before surgery or for multiple nights up to two days before the procedure.

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Although both are used as sleep aids, melatonin and Ambien work differently.

Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle, according to the National Institutes of Health. Ambien, or zolpidem, acts on GABA-A receptors in the central nervous system to produce a sedative effect, states FDA prescribing information.

Across all studies, melatonin was associated with less anxiety, pain and inflammation, in addition to a more than 30% reduction in opioid use among some abdominal surgery patients.

The analysis suggested melatonin could offer advantages over traditional sedatives for older adults, who may be more susceptible to confusion after surgery. Studies that used activity monitors also found that patients who took melatonin showed improvements in recovery and sleep patterns.

Ambien reportedly helped patients with pre-existing sleep problems sleep better before surgery and was also associated with less pain afterward.

Patients who underwent colorectal surgery and took Ambien required less opioid medication during and in the first 24 hours after the procedure. They also had lower inflammation levels.

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Those who had hip replacement reportedly experienced less anxiety and depression and were more satisfied with the recovery process.

Because this was a scoping review, which summarizes existing research rather than testing a treatment directly, the researchers could not make clinical recommendations or fully assess the risk of bias. They noted that more research is needed.

Dr. Sebastian Amaya, senior study author and senior anesthesiology resident at Yale School of Medicine, said he was not surprised that improving sleep was associated with positive outcomes.

He noted that sleep is "extremely important" for maintaining overall health and controlling the immune system, cognitive function and emotional well-being.

In the studies reviewed, use of melatonin and Ambien was associated with less pain and lower opioid use, the doctor reiterated.

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"Pain is ultimately an experience," Amaya said, noting that a person’s environment and other individual factors can influence pain levels.

Sleep also plays an important role in brain function, including the processes involved in how pain is experienced, he added.

"A lot of the hormones that are involved in pain are also involved in sleep," he said. "If you have insomnia, if you have other chronic sleep issues, all these different biological pathways can be disrupted, and that could lead to increased pain after surgery."

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"So, by having somebody with optimized sleep preoperatively, we decrease the risk of increased pain after surgery."

Opioids are commonly prescribed to manage pain after surgery, and research has linked greater post-surgical opioid exposure with an increased risk of persistent use. Although the possibility that better sleep could reduce opioid use after surgery is promising, Amaya cautioned that the findings are not conclusive.

"A lot of these studies did show that the patients had decreased pain levels and decreased opioid consumption in the immediate post-operative period," he said. "Unfortunately, they didn't get followed up for the next couple of days. That would be another study that should be done."

Amaya said the goal is to get patients out of the hospital as soon as possible while keeping pain under control. Improving sleep before surgery may be "low-hanging fruit," particularly as modern lifestyle factors such as blue light and noise can interfere with sleep quality.

"There are probably a lot of people who actually have poor sleep quality, and that can play a role when they come to surgery and have post-operative problems, like a lot of pain," he said. "Maybe their sleep could have been optimized with better sleep hygiene, or maybe they could have talked to their primary care physician."

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Dr. Wendy Troxel, a Utah-based licensed clinical psychologist and senior behavioral scientist at RAND, who was not involved in the study, said the findings "make sense" from a sleep perspective.

"We know how important sleep is for healing and recovery, and it’s very normal to feel anxious and sleep poorly before a major medical procedure," she told Fox News Digital. "For some patients, a short-term sleep aid around the time of surgery may help."

Troxel suggested the concern would be that sleep medications generally are not recommended as a long-term solution for insomnia.

"I’m a little surprised that melatonin showed benefits, since the overall evidence suggests it has limited effects as a sleep aid for most people," she noted. "It may be that placebo, or expectancy effects, could also contribute, particularly in such a stressful context."

Despite the limitations, Troxel concluded that the findings are "interesting and could positively impact patient care for surgical procedures."

For patients who are anticipating an upcoming surgery, Troxel noted that pre-procedure anxiety and disjointed sleep are "normal," and there may be short-term solutions.

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"Anyone considering melatonin or a prescription sleep medication should check with their surgical and anesthesia team about what is appropriate for them," she advised.

Fox News Digital reached out to manufacturers of Ambien and melatonin requesting comment.

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Dementia risk may be linked to seemingly harmless daily habit, new research suggests

Frequent daytime napping among older adults has been linked to a higher risk of developing dementia, according to a study published in The Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health tracked nearly 1,000 adults age 65 and older who showed no signs of memory or thinking problems when the study began in 2013.

A decade later, the researchers found that daily rest habits — like how often people nap, how long they sleep and whether they fall asleep by accident — are linked to long-term brain health.

ONE TYPE OF SLEEP LINKED TO DRAMATICALLY LOWER RISK OF DEMENTIA, PARKINSON'S AND 81 OTHER DISEASES

The study found that participants who napped frequently, defined as most days or every day, had a 48% higher risk of developing dementia compared to those who rarely or never napped.

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Whether the naps were intentional also appeared to play a role. Seniors who fell asleep unintentionally had a 39% higher risk, while shorter naps were also linked to poorer outcomes.

Napping for 30 minutes or less was linked to a 40% increased risk of dementia, even after researchers adjusted for other health factors. For naps longer than 30 minutes, the association was less pronounced after researchers accounted for nighttime sleep patterns.

The research team stressed that looking at daytime napping habits gives a much clearer picture of overall health than looking at nighttime sleep alone.

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"Our study highlights the importance of looking beyond just how long people nap and considering other napping characteristics, such as how frequently they nap and whether their naps are intentional," study authors Adam Spira, Ph.D., a professor at the Bloomberg School, and postdoctoral fellow Kening Jiang, Ph.D., told Fox News Digital.

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"This study provides important longitudinal evidence that frequent and unintentional daytime napping were associated with a higher risk of developing dementia among older adults."

The findings held true even after accounting for nighttime sleep length, daytime drowsiness and indicators of sleep apnea.

"Nighttime sleep and daytime napping are closely related," Spira and Jiang went on. "Daytime napping may compensate for poor nighttime sleep, but it may also reduce the drive to sleep at night, potentially contributing to nighttime sleep disturbances, another important potential risk factor for dementia."

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Researchers pointed out that daytime resting does not necessarily cause brain changes. Rather, changing nap habits could be an early warning sign of underlying changes in the brain.

Brain regions that help regulate wakefulness can start to break down in the early stages of dementia, leading to more frequent daytime fatigue, they noted.

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To double-check this, the team re-analyzed the data after removing anyone who developed dementia during the first five years.

The link between frequent, accidental naps and dementia remained just as strong, suggesting that changes in napping habits can show up years before a formal diagnosis.

The researchers emphasized that this was an observational study with limitations.

"We did not directly intervene on participants’ napping behaviors to examine whether changing these behaviors would affect their dementia risk," Spira and Jiang told Fox News Digital.

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"Although we don’t know whether napping causes dementia, our study findings suggest that daytime napping patterns may be useful indicators of future dementia risk," they added.

The findings suggest that daytime napping patterns in older adults may be worth monitoring, particularly when naps become frequent or happen unintentionally, according to the researchers.

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