THE FINGER ARE INTELLIGENT

SINGAPORE - To quickly assess someone's intelligence, look at the ratio of long ring finger and index finger. The latest research says, a child who has a longer ring fingers than index fingers tend to have higher math skills than verbal ability and language. If the comparison on the contrary, children generally have the verbal skills such as writing and reading are better than math.

According to Mark Brosnan of the University of Bath, the length of the fingers reflects the development of the parts of the brain. Scientists have long known that the growth of human fingers vary depending on levels of testosterone and estrogen in the womb of his mother when the baby was conceived.

High testosterone levels are believed to support the development of the brain associated with mathematical skills, and view space. The hormone also causes the ring finger grow longer.

Estrogen also promotes the same effect on the brain but are associated with verbal ability. However, these hormones also supports the growth of the index finger that is longer than the ring finger.

To examine the relationship of intelligence with finger length ratios, Brosnan and his colleagues compared the results of scholastic tests (SAT), a kind of psychological test here, to prospective students who are applying to a school with a length of fingerprints of each student who has been asked before. They measure the length of the fingers carefully using a long slide that has a precision level of 0.01 millimeters. Then, the ratio of finger length ratio used to estimate the levels of testosterone and estrogen. Student test results of men and women are separated.

They found a clear link between high exposure to testosterone - visible from a long ring finger longer than index fingers - with high math test value. Also the high exposure to estrogen with language and verbal ability in most of the girls.

"Finger length ratio tells us an idea about the personal skills associated with cognitive (thinking power)," said Brosnan who will report the findings in the British Journal of Psychology. In a subsequent study, he will study the relationship between finger length ratios with behaviors such as teknophobi, career, and dyslexia.

Source: LiveScience.com