Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956
[An article appearing in] Nature Communications, suggests that instead of being seen as aberrations that ought to be surgically removed, extra fingers can bring benefits. The results also highlight how flexible the human brain can be, a feature that will be central to the design of brain-controlled robotic appendages.
For the study, bioengineer Etienne Burdet of Imperial College London and colleagues worked with a 52-year-old mother and her 17-year-old son, both born with six fingers on each hand. These extra fingers, positioned between the thumb and index finger, resemble thumbs in the versatile ways that they can move.
Brain scans and anatomical MRI scans revealed that the extra fingers are controlled by a dedicated brain system, along with muscles and tendons. That means that these extra fingers aren't just along for the ride, controlled by the muscles that move the other fingers, as some doctors had thought.
A short video on YouTube shows the extra dexterity in action.
Source: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/having-six-fingers-can-offer-major-dexterity-advantages
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 07 2019, @05:21PM
Money? I'd guess most people left with supernumerary digits are Africans or Asians from places where cosmetic surgery like removing fingers is unaffordable and not paid for by the state.