ArticleBody:Take a moment to imagine what unheard sounds famed psychedelic rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix could have conjured to existence if he had an extra digit to work with. By that same measure, consider how much faster historic painters like Frida Kahlo or Vincent Van Gogh could have amassed their life’s work if they could have simply held their oil and brush in the same hand.
To test the latter, the researchers put the patricants through two separate tests. First, researchers asked the participants to use their new digit to grasp pegs from a pegboard and place them in a basket within 60 seconds. More than half completed the task. Next, the testers were asked to use the thumb alongside their other fingers to try and snatch onto a variety of foam objects that required various levels of dexterity to hold and similarly place them in the basket.