We’re used to it, but do we know why this happens?
No one really understands exactlywhyour fingers wrinkle, though we do understandhowthey wrinkle.
Blood vessels and nerve endings play a role in skin wrinkling.
Suwan Wanawattanawong / EyeEm / Getty Images
Contrary to what many people think, the process of finger wrinkling is not osmosis.
Osmosis is the flow of water from one space to another.
Peripheral blood vessels constrict (narrow) when the sympathetic nervous system is activated.
The sympathetic nervous system is important in the control of a number of body functions, includingheart rateandblood pressure.
Exposure to water is an important trigger for the autonomic nervous system.
Immersing your hand or foot in cold or warm water causes the finger blood vessels to constrict.
Why Do Fingers Wrinkle?
There is an ongoing debate aboutwhyour bodies have developed this ability to wrinkle the skin.
Wrinkling funnels water away from the skin.
By creating “treads” similar to tire treads, wrinkled fingers can grasp wet objects better.
But this isn’t the first theory proposed to explain finger wrinklingand it may not be the last.
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Published 2019 Feb 7. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-38476-5
Getting a Grip on Finger Wrinkles.
Changizi M, et al.Are wet-induced wrinkled fingers primate rain treads?Brain Behav Evol.
