Unlocking the Mysteries: Scientists Reveal a Surprising Active Muscle in Humans After Years of Silence

Scientists used to think that the muscles behind our ears were useless. But a new study suggests they play a role in how we listen. Published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, the research showed that these muscles, specifically the auricularis posterior, activate when we are deeply focused on sounds.

Andreas Schroer, the lead researcher from Saarland University in Germany, explained that there are three main muscles that connect the outer ear to the skull. Of these, the superior auricular muscle becomes more active during challenging listening tasks.

In their study, scientists tested 20 people with normal hearing. They measured the electrical activity in their ear muscles while playing an audiobook with distracting podcasts in the background. They created three listening difficulty levels by changing the number and pitch of the distracting sounds.

As tasks got harder, the activity in the ear muscles increased. During easier tasks, these muscles barely moved, but the more difficult tasks caused a noticeable spike in their activity.

The results indicate that these ear muscles might help us hear better in complicated sound environments by slightly adjusting the ear’s position to capture sounds more effectively.

The researchers also believe their findings could lead to better treatments for auditory processing disorders. For some people, the activity of these muscles might be too much or not enough, affecting how they process sound.

Understanding ear muscle activity could even help improve hearing aids, allowing them to be more effective at reducing listening effort.

Interestingly, scientists are still investigating why these muscles became less active millions of years ago. They theorize that as humans developed stronger visual and vocal skills, the need for ear movement decreased.