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Digit ratio (2D:4D) and amniotic testosterone and estradiol: an attempted replication of Lutchmaya et al. (2004)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2021

Gareth Richards Open the ORCID record for Gareth Richards [Opens in a new window] ,
Wendy V. Browne  and
Mihaela Constantinescu
Gareth Richards*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Wendy V. Browne
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Mihaela Constantinescu
Affiliation:
Gender Development Research Centre, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK School of Psychology, University of East London, London, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Gareth Richards, School of Psychology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, 2.27 Ridley Building 1, Queen Victoria Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Email: gareth.richards@ncl.ac.uk
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Abstract

The ratio of length between the second (index) and fourth (ring) fingers (digit ratio or 2D:4D) is frequently employed as a retrospective marker of prenatal sex hormone exposure. Lutchmaya et al. (2004) reported that the ratio of testosterone (T) to estradiol (E) present in second-trimester amniotic fluid was negatively correlated with digit ratios for the right hand (but not the left hand) in a sample of 29 children at 2-year follow-up. This observation is frequently cited as evidence for the measure’s validity but has not been replicated. We therefore present the findings of another study of amniotic T and E that did not find evidence for these effects at 4½-year follow-up. The confidence intervals were large, the direction of correlations observed was generally erratic, and the overall findings question the premise that second-trimester sex hormones affect the development of digit length ratios in humans.

Keywords

2D:4Ddigit ratioestradiolprenatal sex hormonestestosterone
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 12 , Issue 6 , December 2021 , pp. 859 - 864
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press in association with International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

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