Question 1

Why do your ears twitch at sounds behind you?

Accepted Answer

Three small muscles around each ear still receive an ancient neural command to turn the ear toward a sound. They fire within milliseconds of a noise, but because human ears lost their mobility roughly 25 million years ago, the twitch is far too small to see or feel.

Question 2

What are the ear muscles called and are they useless?

Accepted Answer

They are the anterior, superior, and posterior auricular muscles. Long labeled vestigial, they are not truly useless: EMG studies show they still fire toward the direction a person is listening and work harder when hearing is difficult.

Question 3

Why can only some people wiggle their ears?

Accepted Answer

Everyone has the auricular muscles and the involuntary reflex, but only about ten to twenty percent of people retain enough voluntary control to produce a visible wiggle on command. It is a harmless inherited variation, not a sign of anything unusual.

hearing

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