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.

Between 30% and 35% of people can raise one eyebrow on demand¹. Fewer can raise either eyebrow by itself. Most people have a strong side.

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. Most people get a visible lift within a couple of weeks.
6. Once one side works, try the other. It will be harder.

History and culture

The wrestler and actor Dwayne Johnson made the raised eyebrow his trademark and called it the People’s Eyebrow³. Leonard Nimoy used the same expression for the character Spock in Star Trek, where it signals mild surprise⁴.