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A neurologist has revealed that a simple hand test could show how your brain is ageing. This could also indicate your risk of developing dementia later in life.

Dementia is a syndrome, or a group of symptoms, associated with the ongoing decline of the brain. It can present as memory loss, behavioural changes, and even mobility issues.

Typically, people won't be diagnosed with dementia until the symptoms have been there for a while.

But one expert explained that there are ways to predict any potential cognitive issues in advance.

This includes checking your grip strength. In a video uploaded to social media platform TikTok, Dr Baibing Chen, detailed the connection between your brain and hands.

Dr Chen, who is better known as Dr Bing, said: "One of the simplest and strongest physical markers that you have for brain ageing and your future risk of dementia is your grip strength."

However, he clarified: "Now this doesn't mean that your grip strength is diagnostic of dementia, and it doesn't mean that weak hands cause dementia, but it means that grip strength is a window into how well the brain and the body are talking to each other.

"Your brain has to coordinate nerves, muscles, sensation, timing, and blood flow just to squeeze your hand, and when that system isn't as strong often reflects a lower overall brain resilience. What's interesting is that changes in strength can show up quietly over time.

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"In some types of dementia, especially vascular dementia or Lewy body disease, motor changes like strength or slowing can appear early, but in Alzheimer's, memory [loss] usually shows up first.

"Different diseases, different patterns, but grip strength still tracks overall brain health across populations." This issue may not present itself as a weak grip though.

Patients are more likely to notice other problems first. Dr Bing continued: "In my clinic, patients don't come in saying my grip is weak.

"They say things like, 'I drop things more' or 'my hands get tired faster' or 'I feel slower doing everyday stuff'." If this is something that affects you, however, it's not a reason to "panic".

"The takeaway is not to panic or obsess over hand grippers," Dr Bing said. "Grip strength is a marker and not a diagnosis, and many people with weak grip never develop dementia.

"But it does tell us something, and that strength training isn't about just muscles or looks.

And resistance exercise can support your blood flow, metabolism and brain signalling, and studies show it can have benefits for brain health when done consistently."

His advice is backed by one scientific review, published in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience in 2021. As part of this research, the team analysed 15 existing studies on grip strength and the onset of cognitive impairment.

Researchers noted that "poorer grip strength" was associated with "more risk" of cognitive decline and dementia. They said: "Furthermore, subgroup analysis indicated that people with poorer strength had more risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and non-AD dementia."

They concluded: "Lower grip strength is associated with more risk of onset of cognitive decline and dementia despite of subtype of dementia. We should be alert for the individuals with poor grip strength and identify cognitive dysfunction early."

According to the NHS, common early symptoms of dementia include:

• Memory loss
• Difficulty concentrating
• Finding it hard to carry out familiar daily tasks, such as getting confused over the correct change when shopping
• Struggling to follow a conversation or find the right word
• Being confused about time and place
• Mood changes

If you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms of dementia, you should speak to a GP.