Abstract | Changes in hand morphology throughout human evolution have facilitated the use of forceful pad-to-pad precision grips, contributing to the development of fine motor movement and dexter-ous manipulation typical of modern humans. Today, variation in human hand function may be affected by demographic and/or lifestyle factors, but these remain largely unexplored. We meas-ured pinch grip strength and dexterity in a heterogeneous cross-sectional sample of human par-ticipants (n = 556) to test for the potential effects of sex, age, hand asymmetries, hand morphology, and frequently-practiced manual activities across the lifespan. We found a significant effect of sex on pinch strength, dexterity, and different directional asymmetries, with practice of manual mu-sical instruments significantly increasing female dexterity for both hands. Males and females with wider hands were also stronger, but not more precise, than those with longer hands, while thumb-index ratio had no effect. Hand dominance asymmetry further had a significant effect on dexterity but not on pinch strength. These results indicate that different patterns of hand asym-metries and hand function are influenced in part by life experiences, improving our understand-ing of the link between hand form and function and offering a referential context for interpreting the evolution of human dexterity. |
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