If you can wiggle your ears, you can use muscles that helped our distant ancestors listen closely. These auricular muscles ...

This muscle, known as the auricularis posterior, has been largely dormant in humans for centuries but shows signs of ...

A muscle that we thought served no purpose beyond enabling some people to wiggle their ears is actually active when we are ...

“The exact reason these became vestigial is difficult to tell, as our ancestors lost this ability about 25 million years ago, ...

To test the functioning of the muscles, researchers recruited 20 people without hearing problems. They used electromyograph, ...

A mechanism that activates specific muscles in our ears is a leftover from our evolutionary past, back when our ancestors depended more on their hearing for survival.

Vestigial ear muscles activate during focused listening, revealing a hidden link to our auditory past and evolution.

Summary: Humans have vestigial ear muscles that once helped our ancestors focus on sounds. New research shows these muscles still activate when we strain to hear in noisy environments. Scientists used ...

"These muscles, particularly the superior auricular muscle, show increased activity during challenging listening tasks," explained Andreas Schröer of Saarland University. Participants were asked ...