The finger length may contain a vital clue about consumption habits alcoholaccording to a new study by researchers at the Medical University of Lodz (Poland) and Swansea University (United Kingdom). This is based on previous research where the proportions of different fingers mark behavior patterns very defined by sexually dimorphic physiological and behavioral conditions.
The findings, which have just been published in the journal American Journal of Human Biologythey found relationships between high alcohol consumption and the fourth digit long in relation to the second digit of the right hand. This showed that the high prenatal testosterone in relation to estrogen is related to high alcohol consumption among students.
“Alcohol consumption is a important social and economic problem. “It is therefore important to understand why alcohol consumption shows considerable differences between individuals,” says Professor John Manning, from Swansea’s Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise and Medicine (A-STEM) research team.
The study used a sample of 258 participantsall students, 169 of them women, and revealed that consumption rates vary between sexes. Compared to women, men have higher alcohol consumption and higher mortality from alcohol abuse. “A pattern like this suggests the involvement of sex hormones, such as testosterone and estrogen,” says the researcher.
This research, like previous ones using digit span, indicates that the relative length of the second (index) finger to the fourth (ring) finger (2D:4D) is a putative negative correlate of prenatal exposure to early testosterone (corresponds to the long ring finger) and the estrogen (long index).
The research also works on the evidence that patients with alcohol dependence They have a very long fourth finger relative to the second, suggesting a high level of testosterone in relation to estrogen exposure before birth.
As expected, the researcher notes, “the associations were stronger in men than in women.” He now hopes that his findings will provide a better understanding of the factors underlying the pattern of alcohol consumption, from abstinence to withdrawal. Occasional use and harmful dependence.
Although correlational studies suggest that digit proportions reflect prenatal androgen exposure, the developmental mechanism underlying sexually dimorphic digit development remains unknown.
How to know if your fingers indicate what you drink
Alcohol consumption was negatively related to 2D:4D, suggesting that high levels of prenatal testosterone (long ring) and low levels of prenatal estrogen (short index) are linked to their consumption. What is measured is the digital ratio, that is, the relationship of the lengths of the different fingers of the hand, from the midpoint of the bottom of the fold (where the finger joins the hand) to the tip of the finger. The difference between the two fingers is what indicates how much greater the consumption is.
The correlations ranged in strength from small to large, with the strongest were found for the 2D:4D variation on the right hand in men. The choice of the right hand to study the 2D:4D ratio is not coincidental, but reflects the idea that this hand responds more clearly to prenatal hormonal influences, providing a more precise biological marker. The body size of the observed subjects was also analyzed; the evidence in this case was small, and was limited to men and was not independent of the proportions of the fingers.