Auricular muscles in humans may still display increased activity associated with auditory attention and effortful listening in complex patterns. As research into this auriculomotor system has primarily been conducted in normal-hearing participants, this study investigated electromyographic (EMG) signals of auricular muscles in hearing aid users under challenging listening conditions in order to evaluate their...
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Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Auriculomotor electromyography is a promising research-stage biomarker for listening effort in hearing aid users, but it is not yet validated for routine clinical use; no practice change is indicated.
If auriculomotor responses can reliably index listening effort, they could become an objective, self-report-free tool for evaluating hearing aid benefit — a long-standing clinical measurement gap.
- 01Auricular (ear) muscles show increased EMG activity during effortful listening conditions in hearing aid users.
- 02Auriculomotor responses could serve as an objective biomarker of listening effort without requiring patient self-report.
- 03Study adds to a growing body of work on physiological measures of listening effort beyond pupillometry and EEG.
- 04Research is exploratory; sample sizes and ecological validity need to be addressed in future work.
- 05Findings published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, an open-access peer-reviewed journal.
Electromyographic activity of auricular muscles increases during effortful listening in hearing aid users.
studypartially supportedAuriculomotor responses can serve as an indicator of auditory attention and listening effort.
studyunclear- PMID
- 42614462
- DOI
- 10.3389/fnins.2026.1838748.
- Journal
- Frontiers in Neuroscience
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- Hearing aid users engaged in effortful listening tasks
- Intervention
- Electromyographic recording of auricular muscles during effortful listening
Primary outcomes
Electromyographic activity of the auriculomotor system during effortful listening; Association between auriculomotor responses and auditory attention