Your finger length, handedness & chirality!

Handedness is not only seen in human beings, it is also an important concept in biology: all amino acids that make up proteins in all living things are 100% left-handed!

Handedness & your finger length ratio: Earlier this year researchers from the University of Melbourne have tested a new method of measuring Mannings ‘finger ratio’. They e.g. found in the hands of 600 students that the hands of right-handed students are characterized by longer fingers in the right hand (compared to the left hand).

Interestingly, the researchers also observed an effect between hand preference and the index/ring finger ratio. Left-handed subjects appeared to have a more ‘masculine pattern’: they had a lower 2D:4D ratio compared to right-handed subjects. This implicates that relative finger length can predict a person’s gender or their hand preference! The method of measuring the ‘finger length ratio’ included a tube-test, which was compared with measurements on photocopied hands. The tubes test yielded a longer estimate of ring finger length compared to the photocopy method. Despite this, there was a strong correlation between the tests and both showed an association with gender. By the way, the link between handedness (laterality) and right-left finger length difference was already noticed a few years ago by a Dutch psychologist, who described that the combination leftward thumb length, finger length & handpalm asymmetry can provide a strong indication for left handedness. READ FURTHER ABOUT FINGER LENGTH & HANDEDNESS: Left handed men may think more like women The origins of handedness Your fingers reveal so much about you Your left handed child – BOOK The finger book – BOOK * Source: Laterality

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