The hidden role of auricular muscles in listening effort

The hidden role of auricular muscles in listening effort

If you can wiggle your ears, you can use muscles that helped our distant ancestors listen closely. These auricular muscles helped change the shape of the pinna, or the shell of the ear, funneling sound to the eardrums.

Scientists Uncover Surprising Function of Muscle Once Thought Inactive

Ever get the feeling your ears are doing something when you strain to hear? Turns out, they are. A new study in Frontiers in Neuroscience suggests that the tiny, long-forgotten muscles behind the human ear may not be as useless as we thought. These muscles, known as the auricularis posterior, were once used by our ancestors to swivel their ears like radar dishes. Auricularis posterior lies just behind the earScientists Speculate Possible UsesOve…

Long Believed Dormant, Scientists Discover This Muscle Still Works In Humans

Long believed to be inactive or vestigial, scientists believe that the muscles behind the human ear are actually activated when people listen intently, according to a study published in the Frontiers in Neuroscience. This muscle, known as the auricularis posterior, has been largely dormant in humans for centuries but shows signs of reactivation when individuals focus on challenging auditory tasks. "There are three large muscles [that] connect th…

Ear muscles long thought to have no function activate when trying to listen hard, research shows

Human ear muscles that ­scientists long believed were vestigial – or without function – are actually activated when we are trying to listen hard, a new study has found.

A recent study showed that vestigial muscles in the human ear, which help move the ears in animals, show electrical signals when people focus on a difficult listening task. Twenty volunteers were hooked up to electrodes and listened to an audiobook, with sound distractions. Electrical activity in the ear muscles varied depending on how much effort the participants were putting into listening. Experts suggest that measuring the activity of these …