Photo: Leon Neal/ / Getty Images
For: The opinion Updated Dec 24, 2022, 21:15 pm EST
Anomalies present in the fingerprints can help scientists detect people with schizophreniaaccording to the findings of a new study.
A multicenter study carried out nationwide in Spain by the FIDMAG-Hermanas Hospitalarias de Barcelona Research Foundation sought to study the utility of fingerprints as markers of risk of suffering from schizophrenia.
The results of the study, published in the prestigious journal Schizophrenia Bulletin, show that, by using machine learning algorithms, a reliability of 70% is achieved when distinguishing between fingerprints of people with schizophrenia and fingerprints of healthy people.
Although 70% accuracy alone is not enough for a definitive diagnosis of schizophrenia, Dr. Raymond Salvador, the study’s principal investigator, explains that, in combination with other sources of information, it has great predictive value.
The fingerprints are a stable pattern throughout life and they can be used as a useful, easy and reliable marker of the risk of developing the disease, added the specialist.
The main hypothesis about the origin of schizophrenia points to alterations of genetic and environmental origin produced during prenatal development and/or in the first years of life.
The fingerprints are considered a marker of early neurodevelopment due to the fact that they have a common embryonic origin with the central nervous system, developing together during the same weeks of gestation, explains the research.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
Previous studies have suggested that there are alterations in fingerprint patterns in patients with schizophreniabut these studies used small samples and were based on the analysis of very specific aspects of the fingerprints, ignoring much of the information contained in the fingerprint.
The research used a type of machine learning called a convolutional neural network to find abnormalities in the fingerprints of people with schizophrenia, which were not present in people without the disease.
The investigation concludes that currently it takes a minimum of 6 months to obtain confirmation of a diagnosis of schizophrenia. This study will allow a new tool that provides instant information (scanning the fingerprints and obtaining the results takes a few minutes) that will allow risk detection and early diagnosis of schizophrenia.
You might also be interested in:
Studies reveal relationship between fatty liver and brain damage
If you drink coffee on an empty stomach you could be harming your health, experts say