Dr Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist on the new research revealing why some people can wiggle their ears

Can you wiggle your ears? Apparently around 15 percent of the population can consciously move their ears up and down. Now, new research published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience have figured out where this ear wiggling skill came from. 

While humans can't turn their ears like some animals, our ear muscles still try to make tiny, unconscious movements when we're listening to something intently. 

In the study, the researchers asked 20 volunteers to listen to an audiobook played through a speaker at the same time as a podcast was also played from the same location. 

They created different scenarios, starting with easy ones where the podcast was quieter than the audiobook and the pitches for both were very different. They also created challenging scenarios where two podcasts were played together over the audiobook and the pitch of all three were similar. 

Electrodes were placed on the volunteers allowing the researchers to record the electrical activity produced by the muscles involved in wiggling the ears. 

The researchers found activity in the superior auricular muscles, which lift the ear upwards and outwards, was larger during the most difficult listening conditions and that the posterior auricular muscles, which pull the ear backward, were more active when the sounds came from behind the participant than in front of them. 

While the majority of the volunteers couldn’t physically move their ears, the subtle twitches measured are thought to be remnants of an ancient reflex, called a "neural fossil" which came from our ancestors who could move their ears to focus on sounds. 

Although we lost the ability to visibly move our ears about 25 million years ago, these findings suggest that the neural pathways for ear movement are still present - and might subtly aid our ability to hear things. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
It'd be it is time for our science study of
the weekend. I'm joined by doctor Michelde concern. Good morning,
Good morning. Can you wiggle your ears?

Speaker 3 (00:19):
Yes? I can? Can you?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Oh? I hit phones on, I can't. I'm trying to
work out. I don't. I can do funny things with
my eyebrows, but I'm not sure I'm a good ear. Oh,
look look at yours gone.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Only fifteen percent of the population can wiggle their ears,
and you you tend to know nothing, right.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
I don't know. I don't know what I'm trying to
do to make wig. I think I'm trying to be
my jaw or something.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
So fifteen percent of the population can I can? And
I know I know I can because I've always been
able to do it. And it's one of those things
I did in the playground as a kid. And you
realize the number of kids that could do it, it was
a few of them. Why are we doing this new
study out in Frontiers in Neuroscience. I try to figure
out where this comes from and why can some of
the populations still do this? And is it helpful. So

(01:04):
you may know that if if a pet, a cat
or a dog, for example, when it hears a certain sound,
it move physically moves its ears to try and pick
up that sound better. We can't physically move our ears
in a way that a dog or a cat can,
but actually our ear muscles still try to make unconscious
movements because we used to be able to move our ears,

(01:24):
like twenty five million years ago, we could actually physically
move them similar to a cat or a dog. And
so what they did to go well, is this our ears,
our ears, our old ears still trying to work twenty
five million years later. To test this, they took twenty volunteers.
They applied a whole bunch of electrodes on parts of
the head where the ear muscles move the ears, and

(01:45):
they recorded the electrical activity produced when they did these tests.
So the tests were really simple. They put speakers in
a room and the speakers played both an audiobook and
a podcast at the same time, and you were asked
to try and listen to one of those things. So
they did an easy test where the podcast was playing
really quietly and the audiobook was really loud, and they

(02:05):
were at different pitch, so it was very easy to
identify which one was which and then sort of close
your eyes and home into one of those. Then they
increase the level of difficulty until the most difficult one
was where they played two podcasts over an audio book
from the same speaker, and they were all at the
same volume and all at the same pitch, and you
were just trying to decipher one of those audio books

(02:27):
from all of the other noise, and it became very difficult.
And what they did where they measured their electrodes basically
the results they found that there was electrical activity in
two different parts. So the superior are color muscles, which
are the muscles that can lift your ears up and out,
so if you're a dog, the ones that go sort

(02:48):
of straight up and straight out, we still have those.
Those were really active in that really difficult listening activity.
And then when they moved the speakers to the back
of the room behind you, the electrical activity in our
posterior oracle muscles, which are the ones in an animal
would put the ear backwards. They actually the electrical activity

(03:12):
was really behind. It was really high when the speaker
was behind you, showing that your ears are still trying
to move even if you can't do it, the muscles
attached to your ears that don't work anymore are still ectal.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
It wouldn't be beneficial if they did move, we would
pick out more, yeah, because it would then channel that
sound to the direction.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
So, when you are intently trying to listen to something
and it's hard, basically, your muscles that typically don't work
anymore to move your ears that used to do it
twenty five million years ago are still turning on. And
scientists call this a neural fossil, which is basically an
ancient reflex which came from our ancestors who could move

(03:51):
their ears twenty five million years ago. We still have
these neural pathways for ear movement even though we've lost
the ability to move our ears, and so subconsciously, when
you're trying to listen to something, you don't know this,
but these muscles are turning on inside your head to
try and move your ears, but they physically can't do

(04:12):
it anymo because we've lost that ability to subtly.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Aid our ability to hear things.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
So yeah, next time we sort of turn your head
around and trying to listen to something, just know that
inside your head, A whole bunch of muscles are freaking
out trying to move your ears but physically can't do it.
And that's what we used to do.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
And if you can still with your ear, does that
mean that you potentially have superior hearing.

Speaker 3 (04:31):
No, just make a muscle that you've got, Okay. Anybody
I know who can do this can only move it
up and down and that's not really hardful for anybody.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Well, you have very impressive ear wiggling capabilities there, Michelle,
Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudken, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio