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The Unique Traits of the Human Hand

Andrew Khoury

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Andrew Khoury studies kinesiology at Charleston Southern University in South Carolina. Kinesiology students like South Carolina-based Andrew Khoury look at the mechanical elements of the body's movements, taking physiological, biomechanical, and psychological factors into account.

The human hand has a wide range of available motions and positions, thanks to its bone and joint structure, ligament structure, nerve distribution, and muscle arrangement. Each of these plays a key role in enabling the unique ways hands can be used to interact with the world.

The hand's bone and joint structure consists of three regions, which in turn form three arches. These arches, called the longitudinal arch, the distal transverse arch, and the proximal transverse arch, let the hand conform to the objects it holds. Ligaments stabilize the bones and connect them to one another in this arrangement.
The number of muscles controlling the hand, as well as their position, also plays a major role in the hand's flexibility. Hands have muscles originating within the hand as well as in the wrist and arm, with some enabling overall movement and others enabling the bones in the hand to move relative to each other.