The connection between formations on skin and brain activity was first realized when a child, that was born without a human brain was also born without finger prints or any kinds of formations on skin.

While the term Dermatoglyphics was coined in 1926 by Dr Harold Cummins and was formally recognized as a scientific field of study, archeological findings indicate that the history of fingerprints dates back to ancient China. Various archeological findings in China indicate visible fingerprint carvings on the stone, indicating that the people of that era had some sense of the significance of fingerprints and their uniqueness.

The first scientific research paper on the study of patterns on skin was presented in 1684 by Dr Nehemiah Grew. Since then, various researchers took it up as a research subject and new findings and developments were contributed from time to time. One significant contribution the study of fingerprints was made in 1788 by J.C.Mayer, in which he recognized that all fingerprints are unique.

In 1823, another important finding was contributed by Joannes Evangelista Purkinji, where he claimed that patterns on a human’s skin begin to form as early as when the foetus is 13 weeks old inside the mother’s womb. This claim was later further substantiated in 1936 by Dr. Harold Cummins & Dr. Charles Midlo during their study of embryo genesis, where they further added that the skin formations are fully formed in the fourth foetal month inside the womb.

Another important contribution to the field was in 1832 when Dr. Charles Bell integrated neuro-anatomy with clinical practice and presented a paper in this regard. This was not only an important contribution to the field of Dermatoglyphics itself, but was also a revolutionary contribution to medical sciences and clinical practice. Apart from that, in 1944 Dermatoglyphics was integrated with psychiatry for the first time by Dr Julius Spier, where he presented a paper on analyzing psycho-sexual development in children with the aid of formations of patterns on skin.

Since then Dermatoglyphics have been consistently developing as a dynamic discipline that does not only have aided in medical sciences but also in other fields such as psychology, sports, genetics education and criminology. The USSR is even known to have used Dermatoglyphics for selecting contestants for the International Olympics.