The Gorlin

sign A sign is an Physical object, object, quality (philosophy), quality, event, or Non-physical entity, entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to ...

is a medical term that indicates the ability to touch the tip of the nose or chin with the

tongue The tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered by taste bu ...

. Approximately 34 percent of the general population can perform this act, whereas fifty percent of people with the inherited connective tissue disorder, Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, can. Named after pathologist

Robert J. Gorlin Robert James Gorlin (January 11, 1923 – August 29, 2006) was an American oral pathologist, human geneticist and academic at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. Biography Robert Gorlin was born on January 11, 1923, in Hudson, New ...

, it should not be confused with

Gorlin syndrome Gorlin may refer to: People * Dan Gorlin, computer game programmer, designer and founder of Dan Gorlin Productions * Eitan Gorlin, filmmaker, author and actor * Mikhail Gorlin, Russian emigre poet * Richard Gorlin, American cardiologist, co-devel ...

, a serious inherited medical condition also named after him.

References

External links

* {{cite web, url= http://dermatlas.med.jhmi.edu/derm/result.cfm?Diagnosis=-903490152 , title= Gorlin sign scar, archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20071017025442/http://dermatlas.med.jhmi.edu/derm/result.cfm?Diagnosis=-903490152, website= DermAtlas , publisher= Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, date= , archivedate= 2007-10-17, access-date= Symptoms and signs: musculoskeletal system