Although the human body normally has a temperature of around 37°C, it seems that the same cannot be said for our brain. Healthy human brains may be hotter than previously thought, and 2°C hotter than the rest of our bodies, according to a new study.
In a study published in the journal Brain, healthy participants had an average brain temperature of 38.5°C, ie 2.5°C higher than the average mouth temperature. In deeper brain regions, temperatures often exceed 40°C, with the highest recorded temperature of 40.9°C.
Research also says that brain temperature is not constant. It varies more than scientists once thought, influenced by age, sex, menstrual cycle, brain region, and time of day.
The “normal” temperature of the brain has never been defined in humans. Instead, it was generally assumed to be the same as the rest of the body. Previous studies have used data from brain-damaged patients whose brains were directly monitored. Brain temperature can now be measured in healthy people using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), a non-invasive brain scanning technique.
The team behind the new study used MRS to examine the brains of 40 healthy people, 20 men and 20 women, aged 20 to 40 years. Measurements were taken three times over a day, making it the first time that MRS has been used to monitor changes in brain temperature throughout the day.
Brain temperatures ranged from 36.1°C to 40.9°C. The brain surface tended to be cooler, while the deeper regions were found to be substantially warmer. For example, the thalamus, one of the deepest areas of the brain, is where the highest temperature is recorded.
Brain temperatures also varied during the day. While brain temperatures reached the highest point in the afternoon/evening, they reached the coolest point at night.
Medical Research Council Laboratory Molecular Biology Group Leader Dr. According to John O’Neill, brain temperature drops at night just before going to sleep and rises during the day. This cycle is thought to be associated with long-term brain health, and future research is planned to examine this issue.
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