Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Henry Wellcome Building Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Biol Lett. 2013 Jan 8;9(2):20120999. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0999. Print 2013 Apr 23.
Upon continued submersion in water, the glabrous skin on human hands and feet forms wrinkles. The formation of these wrinkles is known to be an active process, controlled by the autonomic nervous system. Such an active control suggests that these wrinkles may have an important function, but this function has not been clear. In this study, we show that submerged objects are handled more quickly with wrinkled fingers than with unwrinkled fingers, whereas wrinkles make no difference to manipulating dry objects. These findings support the hypothesis that water-induced finger wrinkles improve handling submerged objects and suggest that they may be an adaptation for handling objects in wet conditions.
当人的手和脚持续浸入水中时，其光滑的皮肤会起皱。这些皱纹的形成是一个已知的主动过程，由自主神经系统控制。这种主动控制表明这些皱纹可能具有重要的功能，但这个功能还不清楚。在这项研究中，我们表明，与没有起皱的手指相比，带有褶皱的手指能更快地处理水下物体，而褶皱对手部操控干燥物体没有影响。这些发现支持了这样一种假设，即水诱导的手指皱纹能改善对水下物体的处理，并表明它们可能是一种适应在潮湿环境中处理物体的方式。
