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Fingers as a Marker of Prenatal Androgen Exposure

Departments of Psychology (S.A.B., K.K.B.) and Pediatrics (S.A.B.), The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802; Department of Psychology (N.N., S.M.), Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202; and Department of Pediatric Endocrinology (C.A.Q.), Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Sheri A. Berenbaum, Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, 519 Moore, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802. E-mail: sab31{at}psu.edu.

Interest in biological substrates of sex-related variations in psychological and physiological characteristics has led to a search for biomarkers of prenatal hormone exposure that can be measured postnatally. There has been particular interest in digit ratio, the relative lengths of the second and fourth fingers (2D:4D), but its validity as a measure of prenatal androgen has not been established. We report the strongest evaluation of the value of 2D:4D as a biomarker for early androgen exposure. Individuals with 46,XY karyotype but no effective prenatal androgen exposure due to complete androgen insensitivity syndrome had digit ratios that were feminized: they were higher than those of typical men and similar to those of typical women. Nevertheless, the effect was modest in size, and there was considerable within-group variability and between-group overlap, indicating that digit ratio is not a good marker of individual differences in prenatal androgen exposure.

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