Hand Facts: News about hands!

New research links the ‘Moon whorl’ with autism! (On top of Down syndrome & schizophrenia)

In 1892, Sir Francis Galton published his highly influential book, ‘Finger Prints’ in which he described his classification system based on the number of triradii. On of the 3 most well-known fingerprint types is the ‘whorl’ (next to the ‘loop’ and ‘arch’), which is often found on the fingertips – but rarely found on the hypothenar (in palistry: ‘mount of Moon’)!

What was already known about the ‘hypothenar whorl’?

Quote from the article:

“While the classic palmistry literature describes that the ‘hypothenar whorl’ (a.k.a. ‘whorl on mount of Moon’) can be recognized as a sign for finding a ‘highly imaginative person’, various scientific studies have indicated that dermatoglyphic whorls on the mount of moon are linked with Down’s syndrome + a few other medical problems.”

NEW RESEARCH FINDING ON AUTISM!

Another quote from the article:

“A study on the hands of 30 people with autism (25 men, 5 women) revealed a surprizing high percentage of a specific (very rare) variant of the ‘hypothenar whorl’ – the ‘hypothenar composite whorl’.”

Some examples of the ‘hypothenar composite whorl’ are presented below.

In the perspective of the fact that in the science of fingerprints the ‘composite whorl’ is related to the ‘double loop’, it is interesting to notice here that the new finding relates to an earlier reported finding which pointed out that the hands of people with autism are often featured with a ‘double loop’ in the fingerprint of the pinky finger and the presence of 2 palmar loops below that 5th finger.

In cases you’re interested to learn more about the basics of fingerprint classification – the illustration below describes the 8 most common types of fingerprints (including: 2 ‘arch’ variants, 2 ‘loop’ variants, and 4 ‘whorl’ variants).

NOTICE: The ‘composite whorl’ whorl does not belong to the 8 basic fingerprint types (the name ‘double loop whorl’ in the picture below is traditionally described as a ‘double loop’).

SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER READING:

• How fingerprinting works!
• Forensic experts say: ‘fingerprints reveal more’!
• A historical review of research on dermatoglyphics!