Development of Nerve Pathways in the Hand
Client
Dr. Matteo Fabbri PhD
Year
2025
Audience
Medical students and evolutionary biologists and anatomists
This project explored the intricate relationship between nerve growth and skeletal development in the human hand. Working with Dr. Matteo Fabbri, I combined embryology research, anatomical study, and illustration to create a didactic piece that visualizes how the median, ulnar, and radial nerves extend into the developing hand. My primary references included the Carnegie Collection (stages at weeks 6, 8, and 11, and an adult hand) and the influential paper “Tridimensional Visualization and Analysis of Early Human Development,” which provided rare, groundbreaking visualizations of early nerve development.
What I found most fascinating was how nerves establish pathways based on the density of undifferentiated stem cell tissue (mesenchyme), growing into anticipated routes while avoiding areas of dense mesenchyme that later ossify into bone. This early guidance sets the stage for the complex integration of nerves, bones, and cartilage in the mature hand. To make these relationships clear for teaching, I used color coding to differentiate nerve branches and bone precursors, while also orienting the work along the dorsal–ventral axis.
When drawing thumbnails, I knew I would have to sacrifice having both a dorsal and ventral view of each hand, so I focused on creating an overlapping network of dorsal and ventral nerves using depth, shadow, and the developing bone as a margin for anterior and posterior. We decided that having 3 stages would best tell our visual story:
Week 6 (Carnegie Stage 16) – the hand plate begins to web
Weeks 7–8 (Carnegie Stages 20–23) – apoptosis sculpts the digits
Early Fetal Stage (11 weeks) – more refined branching of nerves with early skeletal structures
