Finger dermatoglyphics and their asymmetry in Bulgarian right-, mixed- and left-handers

Since Bulgarians have never been investigated concerning the relationship between handedness and dermatoglyphics, the present study was aimed to investigate the aforementioned relationship in a Bulgarian sample. Digital dermatoglyphics and their asymmetries have been studied in 870 apparently healthy students from randomly selected Bulgarian secondary schools: 264 right-handers (RH), 246 mixed-handers (MH) and 360 left-handers (LH). The whorls were significantly less frequent and the ulnar loops more frequent in RH than in the other two handedness categories. Right-handers exceeded significantly MH and LH in the ulnar fluctuating asymmetries of the first and the fourth finger pairs. As compared to the number of investigated variables and especially to the important psychological and behavioral differences between handedness categories reported earlier in the same sample, the presented significant findings are rather scarce. Nevertheless they could contribute to the accumulation of data concerning the investigated relationship and to its better understanding.