The auricular muscles, which enabled our distant ancestors to move their ears for better hearing, activate when people try to ...

An ear wiggler himself, Schröer has collected stories of remarkable ear abilities, such as people who feel their ears moving toward a sound and people who use their ear movements in daily life. “They ...

Humans lost the ability to move their ears 25 million years ago, but new research reveals their muscles still react when we strain to listen.

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

In addition, although the superior auricular muscles were not affected by the direction of the sound, they became more active as the listening level increased. The researchers suggest that 'the ...

"These muscles, particularly the superior auricular muscle, exhibit increased activity during effortful listening tasks. This suggests that these muscles are engaged not merely as a reflex but ...

Scientists call this feature a “neural fossil”. It’s a remnant of a system that once helped our ancestors pinpoint the ...

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

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 ...