Fourth Digit Length Research Articles

Sex role identity related to the ratio of second to fourth digit length in women

Prenatal gonadal hormones have been implicated as important factors in the development of sex-role identity. The aim of the study reported here was to examine the relationship between adult sex-role preference and the second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D ratio) in healthy women. There is evidence that the ratio of the length of second and fourth digits associates negatively with prenatal testosterone and positively with prenatal oestrogen. In this study the 2D:4D ratio was measured on a sample of 46 female university students. The subjects completed the form of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). It was found that the lower 2D:4D ratios associated significantly with higher, masculinized bias scores in BSRI indicating that 2D:4D ratio predicts the female or male self-reported sex-role identity in females.

Spatial navigation related to the ratio of second to fourth digit length in women

Prenatal gonadal hormones have been implicated as important factors in the development of different spatial abilities, including spatial navigation. The aim of the study reported here was to examine the relationship between navigational abilities and the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D ratio) in healthy women. There is evidence that the ratio of the length of second and fourth digits is negatively related to prenatal testosterone and positively positively related to prenatal estrogen. In this study, the 2D:4D ratio was measured in a sample of 46 female university students. The subjects' place learning ability was tested in a real arena maze (RAM). Our results tend to support an association between prenatal gonadal hormone concentration and some aspects of spatial navigation. The subjects with lower 2D:4D ratio had significantly longer hidden platform-finding latency, better spatial recall, and selected significantly more navigation cues in a posttest of the arena maze learning.

Digit Ratio: A Pointer to Fertility, Behavior, and Health

The main message of this book is simple and John Manning does an excellent job of delivering it clearly. The ratio of second and fourth (finger) digit lengths (2D:4D) appears to be affected by foetal testosterone exposure, may be fixed before birth, and so may be a reliable indicator of early prenatal conditions and subsequent health factors.

The ratio of second- and fourth-digit lengths and congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency results in excessive androgen exposure in the gestational period and various degrees of masculinization of the external genitalia in female foetuses. Intrauterine gonadal steroids are not only essential for the development of the genital organs but also affect some other extragenital organ development. The second to fourth digit (2D/4D) ratio shows a sexually dimorphic pattern with longer fourth digit from second digit in men compared to women. A low 2D/4D ratio is associated with high sperm count, testosterone levels and reproductive success in men. A high 2D/4D ratio is associated with high oestrogen levels in women. Second and fourth digit ratio has also found to be correlated with sexual orientation, left hand preference autism and some adult onset diseases such as breast cancer and myocardial infarction. We found lower 2D/4D ratio in female patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency compared to healthy girls (p=0.000) and equal 2D/4D ratio for female patients when compared to male controls. Male patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency had significantly lower 2D/4D ratio than female and male controls in the right hand. Healthy boys had lower 2D/4D ratio than healthy girls. It is concluded that 2D/4D ratio established by intrauterine androgen levels influences the sexually dimorphic digit pattern.

The ratio of second to fourth digit lengths: a marker of impaired fetal growth?

Epidemiological studies showing that impaired fetal growth has long-term adverse health consequences have depended on crude measures of fetal growth such as overall weight or length. For future studies, there is a need to develop improved morphological markers of fetal growth which persist into adult life. Recent studies have suggested that the ratio of the length of the second finger relative to the length of the fourth finger (2D:4D ratio) is determined during fetal life and may be such a marker. To determine whether the 2D:4D ratio is associated with size at birth. Cohort study. 139 men and women born in Preston, Lancashire between 1935 and 1943. Measurements of the 2D:4D ratio in palm prints. Men who had an above average placental weight and a shorter neonatal crown-heel length had higher 2D:4D ratios in adult life. These preliminary findings lend support to the hypothesis that the 2D:4D ratio is determined during fetal life.

A preliminary investigation of the associations between personality, cognitive ability and digit ratio

The ratio between second and fourth digit lengths (digit ratio) is known to be sexually dimorphic, with males having lower values. It is believed that digit ratio acts as a marker of pre-natal testosterone exposure and a number of studies of its correlates support this idea. In the present study, associations between digit ratio and a number of cognitive and personality tests which are known to show male–female score differences were investigated. Evidence for associations in the expected direction was found for sensation seeking, psychoticism and neuroticism, in all cases for females only. No association was found between digit ratio and cognitive test scores.

Stevenson's fingers.

A Random Samples item of 20 August (p. 1205) reports the interesting correlation between fourth-digit length and psychiatric depression recently described by Martin, Manning, and Dowrick ([1][1]). The Random Samples item is illustrated with an 1887 portrait of Robert Louis Stevenson by John Singer Sargent (which was reversed in reproducing). This portrait clearly shows Stevenson's hands with his slender fingers, the fourth digit the longest. The choice of Stevenson as an example of a depressed individual can be questioned. Stevenson may occasionally have been “moody,” as stated, and he became transiently and understandably depressed in 1873 when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis; however, his constant literary productivity and genial spirit throughout his subsequent years make a diagnosis of depressive illness most unlikely. In his famous words, “Glad did [he] live.” Stevenson's fingers, so elegantly portrayed by Sargent, are, however, of potential interest to medical historians for another reason. Stevenson had tuberculosis ([2][2]), but some have questioned this diagnosis and have suggested that his recurrent symptom of spitting up blood from his lungs was due to bronchiectasis ([3][3]). However, bronchiectasis is commonly associated with clubbed fingers, which Sargent's portrait demonstrates Stevenson did not have; tuberculosis is not or only rarely associated with clubbed fingers. 1. [↵][4]1. S. M. Martin, 2. J. T. Manning, 3. C. F. Dowrick , Evol. Hum. Behav. 20, 203 (1999). [OpenUrl][5][CrossRef][6] 2. [↵][7]1. T. M. Daniel , Captain of Death: The Story of Tuberculosis (Univ. of Rochester Press, Rochester, NY, 1997), p. 106, 112. 3. [↵][8]1. S. Taylor , “Dead man's chest,” RLS Club News (March 1996). [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #ref-3 [4]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [5]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DEvol.%2BHum.%2BBehav.%26rft.volume%253D20%26rft.spage%253D203%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1016%252FS1090-5138%252899%252900006-9%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [6]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1016/S1090-5138(99)00006-9&link_type=DOI [7]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [8]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text