Scientists have discovered that muscles behind the human ear are activated when people listen intently, according to a study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience. The auricularis posterior muscle, thought to be inactive or vestigial for centuries, shows signs of reactivation during challenging auditory tasks.
A study of 20 participants found that the superior auricular muscle, which connects the ear to the skull and scalp, exhibits increased activity when individuals focus on effortful listening. As the difficulty level of the task increased, so did the activity of this muscle.
The researchers suggest that this muscle may play a role in enhancing auditory perception by subtly adjusting the ear’s position to better capture sound. The findings could help understand or develop treatments for auditory processing disorders.
The discovery raises questions about why these muscles became vestigial over 25 million years ago, but researchers believe it may be due to our increased proficiency with visual and vocal systems. Future studies could explore the potential use of auricular muscle activity as an objective metric to assess hearing aid algorithms.
Source: https://www.ndtv.com/science/long-believed-dormant-scientists-discover-this-muscle-still-works-in-humans-7617102