Studies suggest that a stronger gripping ability may help cut your risk of dementia. Here’s why.
If you’ve ever had trouble opening a pickle jar, you know that it can make you feel momentarily frustrated.
Most often, it’s nothing to worry about – but it could be one sign of something called “handgrip weakness.” Handgrip weakness can make other daily tasks, like turning doorknobs or rotating the wheel of your car, more difficult. And as research suggests, it might even negatively affect your brain’s cognition — and be linked to dementia.
Below, learn how poor grip strength may affect the brain (and vice versa), plus four tips to help you get a better grip on things (literally!).
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What is grip strength, and why is it important?
Your hand and forearm muscles power grip strength. It’s what makes it possible to do the following things to objects:
- Grasp
- Hold
- Lift
- Pinch
- Pull
- Rotate
The strength of your hand and forearm muscles also plays a role in how much pressure you can apply to something–like how hard you can push an elevator button or apply pressure to a rolling pin when rolling out cookie dough. It also affects the length of time you can sustain those actions.
“The force of a person’s handgrip can be a convenient and reliable measure of overall muscle strength, and the measure is also generally inclusive of someone’s wide-ranging functional abilities,” says Ryan McGrath, Ph.D. He’s an assistant professor in the department of health, nutrition, and exercise science at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota.
But as you get older, you can lose muscle strength. This trend tends to accelerate in your 50s and 60s, says Brian C. Clark, Ph.D., a professor of physiology and neuroscience at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.
What is the connection between grip strength and your brain?
If you’re having trouble with muscle strength, you may not think of it as having anything to do with your brain. But one recent study found that there may be an association between grip strength and cognitive functions, such as thinking and remembering.
One indication was found in a recent study in which researchers studied more than 190,000 dementia-free men and women. The average age of the participants was 56 years old, and the results suggested that poor handgrip strength in midlife could be associated with cognitive decline 10 years later.
Study participants took tests to measure their handgrip strength, problem-solving skills, memory, and reasoning abilities, in addition to undergoing brain imaging. Participants with lower grip scores were more likely to have problems later in life with certain types of thinking and memory, brain imaging markers of vascular dementia, and diagnoses of dementia, compared with those who had higher grip scores. Although the study was observational, the findings suggest that there may be a link between poor handgrip strength and cognitive decline.
A possible explanation for the link between poor handgrip strength and cognitive decline could be a “miscommunication” between the brain and muscular system, says Clark. “The muscles are puppets of the nervous system, and some, such as those that control the hands, require exquisite coordination by the brain to optimally work together.”
There’s also strong evidence indicating that neurodegeneration impacts both the cognitive and motor circuits of the brain. “When there’s deterioration within the brain, it will likely hinder its ability to generate precise commands for muscle contraction,” notes Clark. “As a result, the expected muscular response or action might not be achieved.”
On the flip side, there’s also opposite signaling happening. “Muscles secrete hormones and myokines, which are small proteins produced and released by muscle fibers through contraction that are important in cell signaling,” Clark says. “Myokines can enhance neural function in the areas of the brain that facilitate learning and memory, as well as improving mood.”
These muscle secretions can travel upstream to the brain and yield neuroprotective effects. “If you’re not actively using your muscles, they will not send the necessary signals back to the brain to support optimal functioning,” Clark says.
The association of muscle health, as measured by handgrip strength and brain health, may work both ways, says McGrath. “There are some hypotheses about shared neural pathways, with the pathways responsible for noncognitive processes, such as our motor skills, being shared with cognitive processes.”
One large study of more than 40,000 people in the United Kingdom revealed widespread associations between stronger grip strength and increased gray matter volume. That uptick in gray matter was in regions of the brain associated with better mental health. The researchers also found those with a stronger handgrip showed improvements in their brain’s ability to process things quickly.
Another study, published in GeroScience, suggested an association between higher handgrip strength and better learning ability, including verbal fluency, in dementia-free men over the age of 60.
Ways to increase grip strength
So if grip strength and brain health are related, you might want to improve your grip strength to improve your brain health. Why would that work? It turns out that the brain devotes a surprising amount of processing power to controlling the hand. That’s because the hand has an incredibly complex set of muscles that all have to work together to allow the complex movements of the hand — including grip. And when you exercise your handgrip, you’re not just exercising the muscles in your hand — you’re exercising the large part of your brain that controls the muscles in your hand.
Improving your handgrip strength doesn’t have to be hard work. Here are 3 tips you can follow to work on muscle strength while also contributing to a sharper brain.
Tip #1. Squeeze a ball. Contracting and releasing a tennis ball or rubber stress ball can help tone the muscles in the hand, forearm, and fingers — as well as improve brain function. A study in Psychology and Aging suggested that younger and older adults performing short bursts of squeezing a therapy ball could improve their working memory. Want to give it a shot? Try squeezing a ball twice a day for at least 10 minutes per hand.
Tip #2. Take up resistance training. Resistance or strength training increases muscle power by causing the muscles to work against some type of force or resistance. Some examples include:
- Lifting weights
- Using resistance bands
- Doing weight-bearing exercises, such as squats or push-ups
Pilates, yoga, and even some strenuous gardening count as resistance exercise.
Adults ages 65 and older will want to get at least two days of strength training in a week, along with a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, recommends the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC also recommends doing activities that improve balance, like standing on one foot.
Tip #3. Engage in handgrip/brain training. Activities that combine cognition with manual dexterity can help work both the brain and the hands simultaneously. Some ideas could include:
- Completing a challenging jigsaw puzzle
- Following a recipe that requires your hand muscles, such as using a garlic press, hand-mixing ingredients, or kneading dough
- Shuffling and dealing when playing a card game with your grandkids
Another great way to train your brain? Use the online, scientifically proven exercises from BrainHQ. Try it now!
Additional sources:
Study on link between handgrip strength and dementia risk: JAMA Network Open
U.K. study on grip strength, brain structure, mental health: BMC Medicine
Study on link between handgrip strength and learning/verbal fluency: GeroScience
Study linking handgrip and memory: Psychology and Aging
