This article mentions an old 1949 study that claimed ear wiggling is heritable. I don’t think that looked at learning at all though.
From this article I gather that all humans have two small muscles that are attached to the ear for movement. Also:
Unlike other facial muscles, ear muscles have their own accessory nucleus, a control area for muscle function, in the brainstem, says ter Meulen, a researcher at Erasmus MC, a university medical centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
“Compared to animals, especially bats and cats, this nucleus is rather small in humans,” he says.
The last two claims make me think that maybe the genetically determined size of this region of the brain determines how “easy/natural” it is to wiggle them.
There’s lots of anecdotal data points of people learning to wiggle their ears (Quora, and this guy)
This article mentions an old 1949 study that claimed ear wiggling is heritable. I don’t think that looked at learning at all though.
From this article I gather that all humans have two small muscles that are attached to the ear for movement. Also:
The last two claims make me think that maybe the genetically determined size of this region of the brain determines how “easy/natural” it is to wiggle them.
There’s lots of anecdotal data points of people learning to wiggle their ears (Quora, and this guy)
Great information. You convinced my that it’s likely possible to learn it for many people.