Raising one eyebrow

How it works

The eyebrows are lifted by the frontalis, a flat sheet of muscle across the forehead. It has a left half and a right half. Each half gets its own branch of the facial nerve¹. In principle the two halves can fire separately. In practice the brain usually sends the same command to both.

Two other muscles pull the eyebrow down. The corrugator supercilii draws it down and inward, making a frown². The ring muscle around the eye pulls it down too. To raise one eyebrow, you fire the frontalis on one side while holding the other eyebrow down with these muscles. Some people do this without thinking. Others have to learn the balance.

Not everyone can raise one eyebrow on demand. Fewer still can raise either eyebrow by itself.

How common it is

The 30% to 35% figure is an informal estimate. No population study has measured it. The split may reflect practice rather than anatomy. No study has tested this. No study has tracked how many people can learn it using the mirror method below.

Try it

1. Sit in front of a mirror.
2. Raise both eyebrows as high as you can.
3. Place two fingers on one eyebrow and hold it down. Raise both eyebrows again. Only the free one will lift.
4. Take the fingers away and try to repeat the same feeling without them.
5. Practise for a few minutes a day.
6. Once one side works, try the other. It will be harder.

Is it a problem?

No. Being able, or unable, to raise one eyebrow is not a sign of a facial nerve problem. It may be a matter of muscle control and practice. A sudden new inability to move one eyebrow, especially with drooping on one side of the face, is different, and should be mentioned to a doctor promptly, since it can signal a facial nerve problem⁵.

History and culture

The wrestler and actor Dwayne Johnson used the raised eyebrow as a pose called “the People’s Eyebrow”³⁶. Leonard Nimoy used the same expression for the character Spock in Star Trek⁴.