- Hand Reading Mini-Course -

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Hand Diagnostics & Psychiatry:

schizophrenia - dermatoglyphics, hand morphology & creases!

Research has indicated that neurobiological factors combined with genes do play an important part in the etiology of schizophrenia. And nowadays the experts know a lot more about the functioning of the brains in schizophrenics. However, the mystery about the nature and cause of schizophrenia is still alive. For science is still searching for the true nature of the schizophrenic disorder (translated from Dutch language)

"... We still don't know whether there is one or more disorders
lying underneath the label 'schizophrenia'..."¹

This uncertainty is a major complication in doing research on this disorder via hand features. By the way, the motive for modern scientists to study the relationship between hand features and schizophrenia is lying in the fact that in the hand of the human embryo the dermatoglyphics are developed during a pre-natal period when important aspects of the brains are developed as well.

Since the 60's there has been a regular flow of publications focussed on the relationship between hand features and schizophrenia. During the 60's and 70's about 25 studies have been published. After the introduction of more advanced (cytogenetic) research methods, the flow of new research programs tempered to about 5 well-known studies. However, since the mid 90's a new interest was noticed focussed on studying the dermatoglyphics of the hand. During the last decenium about 20 new studies were published disussing the relationship between hand features and schizophrenia.

The following of this paragraph will present an overview of the most important insights which are the result of various scientific studies. Most of these studies are focussed on the relationship between the dermatoglyphics (level 1) and schizophrenia. However, some studies included other aspects of the hand as well - e.g. the hand morphology (level 2) and the creases (level 3).

IMPORTANT: the isolated hand features mentioned in the following of this paragraph, should not be seen as an indication for the disease schizophrenia. For a reliable diagnosis of schizophrenia should always be founded on the basis of combinations of several hand features + behavioral problems.

Sources:

1 - Den Boeren, J.A. & van den Bosch, R.J. Leerboek Schizofrenie: een neurologische benadering. De Tijdstroom BV, Utrecht, 1996.

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