“Scorching” temperatures in the brain!

On average, it is around 37.5°C in the human body, except in the brain! English scientists have measured “scorching” temperatures, over 40°C, in healthy people.

The normal human body temperature varies between 36.1 and 37.8°C depending on the day, but in the brain, it can wait for 40°C! A temperature that would be considered abnormal, a sign of a fever intense, had it been taken at the level of any other organ.

These measures had already been observed in people with brain injuries; in this case, Cambridge University scientists measured temperature noninvasively in healthy volunteers.

Excessive heat in the brain

A total of 40 volunteers, men and women aged 20 to 40, whose temperature was taken at several times of the day. The results indicate that the temperature of the brain in healthy subjects is between 36.1 and 40.9°C, with an average of 38.5°C.

Scientists have observed that the brain is warmer according to the menstrual cycle in women – typically, the luteal phase is associated with a 0.36°C increase compared to the follicular phase. The brain also warms up little by little with age, the deepest areas gaining 0.6°C in the space of 20 years.

Thanks to his measurements, the scientists were able to establish a true four-dimensional weather map of the brain with the cooler regions and the scorching regions according to sex, age and time of day.