Levels of Testosterone
 Male scientists are good at research because they have the hormone levels of women and long index fingers, a new study says.
A survey of academics at the University of Bath has found that male scientists typically have a level of the hormone estrogen as high as their testosterone level.
These hormone levels are more usual in women than men, who normally have higher levels of testosterone. The study draws on research that suggests that these unusual hormone levels in many male scientists cause the right side of their brains, which governs spatial and analytic skills, to develop strongly.
The study, which as been submitted to the British Journal of Psychology, also found that:
1) These hormonal levels may make male scientists less likely to have children.
2) Those men with a higher level of estrogen were more likely than average to have relatives with dyslexia, which may in part be caused by hormonal levels.
3) Women social scientists tended to have higher levels of testosterone, making their brains closer to those of males in general. The study drew on work in the last few years which established that the levels of estrogen and testosterone a person has can be seen in the relative length of their index (second) and ring (fourth) fingers. The ratio of the lengths is set before birth and remains the same throughout life.
Finger Length
The length of fingers is genetically linked to the sex hormones, and a person with an index finger shorter than the ring finger will have had higher testosterone levels while in the womb, and a person with an index finger longer than the ring finger will have had more estrogen. The difference in the lengths can be small – as little as two or three per cent – but important.
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