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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."

Generic brain games like Sudoku or number puzzles often fail to clear up mental fog because they do not target the specific brain functions that are slowing down.…