In See Those Fingers? Do the Math [ScienceNOW], Constance Holden describes the latest study in brain and finger development by Mark Brosnan and collleagues at the University of Bath.
Boys with the longest ring fingers relative to their index fingers tend to excel in math, according to a new study. In girls, shorter ring fingers predict better verbal skills. The link, according to the researchers, is that testosterone levels in the womb influence both finger length and brain development.
Scientists have been interested for years in the observation that ratios of finger lengths differ in men and women. In men, the ring (fourth) finger is usually longer than the index (second); their so-called 2D:4D ratio is lower than 1. In females, the two fingers are more likely to be the same length.
That’s all very well. However my index fingers are longer than my ring fingers. And I have a (strongly mathematical, academic) degree in Engineering from the Imperial College, London.
Source: Boys with Longer Ring Fingers are Better at Math [Slashdot].
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What’s that you say about your degree?
Wasn’t there a study several years ago that claimed that whether the index or ring finger is longer proved whether or not a person is straight or gay? I remember the Mail showing that this theory showed Bill Clinton was is and several well known queers are straight!
Oh whatever. My ‘ring’ finger on both my hands are of *different* length, my actual ring finger is longer than my index finger and the opposite on the other hand. I’m half ‘verbally’? Well, maybe…