Your brain may be hotter than you expected [TKB Health]

The normal temperature of the human body is around 37ºC (98.6º F), but not that of the brain. According to a new research, the human brain can be 2º C (3.6º F) hotter than its body.

According to a research published in the journal Brain, the average brain temperature of the people taking part in the research was 38.5ºC (101.3ºF), which was 2.5ºC (4.5ºF) higher than the average body temperature. In deeper regions of the brain, temperatures were often found to exceed 40ºC (104ºF). The highest temperature recorded was 40.9ºC (105.6ºF) in those areas.

In fact, normal brain temperature has never been defined in humans. It is generally considered the same as the rest of the body. In previous studies, data was taken from brain-injured patients who were directly monitored. Now, the brain temperature of healthy people can be measured through Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS). It is a non-invasive brain scanning technique.

Brain temperature is not fixed

Dr John O’Neill, group leader of the Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Biology, says that in the new research, the team took 20 to 40 years of people the brains of 40 healthy people of that age range were examined. Of these 40 people, 20 were men and 20 were women. Measurements were taken three times during a day, and changes in brain temperature were tracked throughout the day. Research has found that the temperature of the brain is not fixed. It varies with age, gender, menstrual cycle, area of ​​the brain and time of day.

Women’s brains are hotter than men’s

The results found that the brain temperature ranged from 36.1ºC to 40.9C (97ºF and 105.6ºF). The surface of the brain is cold, while the deeper regions are extremely hot. For example, the deepest part of the brain, the thalamus, had the highest temperature. A person’s gender also has an effect on their brain temperature. Women’s brains were found to be 0.36º C (0.65º F) warmer after ovulation than during the second half of the menstrual cycle. It was even more than men’s brains.

In all people, there was a difference of 1ºC (1.8ºF) in brain temperature throughout the day. The brain was hottest in the afternoon and coldest at night. The researchers then also created the first 4D map of the temperature of a healthy human brain.