Finger

A finger - scientifically digitus (plural: digiti ) - is a part of the hand. Fingers belong to the extremities. A finger in humans has three bony support elements, the finger bones with proximal phalanx, media and distalis, only the thumb has only two phalanges ( phalanx bone, from the Greek word for phalanx phalanx of warriors; Mz: phalanges ). The phalanges are hinged and close to the corresponding metacarpal bone ( metacarpal bones ) to. In this case, the man of the thumb has a special position, since its articulated suspension allows him an opposition position compared to the other fingers. Fingers have in addition to the gripping, supporting and retaining also gestikuläre functions, such as upward or downward pointing thumb, extended middle finger touching the thumb with the index finger, finger oath etc.

The counterpart to the fingers, the toes on the lower extremities.

Finger of man

Typically, the man has five fingers on each hand in the following sequence:

Fingertip

The end of each finger is called finger tip or finger tip. The ridges on the lower sides of the fingertips yield an individual fingerprint, which can be used for personal identification ( fingerprinting ). There are about 700 touch and pressure receptors in each fingertip. The fingertip is the name for the terminal Tastballen at the end of the inside of each finger. This area is well supplied with blood and has many sensory nerve cells for the sense of touch. The finger pad is next to the ear lobe a good place for the acceptance of small quantities of blood. Each finger has a finger nail at the top of the fingertips.

Development peculiarities of the finger

Malformations of the fingers belong to the group of dysmelias. These include the formation of supernumerary digits ( polydactyly ), the absence of fingers ( oligodactyly, Adaktylie ), the lack of separation between fingers ( syndactyly ), the formation of supernumerary digits with simultaneous lack of separation ( polysyndactyly ), shortening ( brachydactyly ) or extension ( arachnodactyly ) of individual finger and the mutilation of fingers ( ectrodactyly ).

Men due to a higher influence of testosterone during pregnancy, typically has a smaller index finger ( 2-D) in comparison with the ring finger ( 4D). This finger length ratio ( 2D: 4D) is typically smaller in men. A small finger length ratio was calculated with different characteristics of a person, like, brought higher risk for alcohol dependence or video game addiction in conjunction.