(ORDO NEWS) — By measuring the temperature of the volunteers’ brains, the researchers found that it warms up a couple of degrees warmer than the body, and more so in women than in men. In depth, its temperature reaches 38.5 ° C, and this does not at all indicate an illness.
People have much more “hot heads” than is commonly believed. For the first time, British scientists were able to trace temperature changes in the depths of the brain of healthy people: it turned out to be noticeably higher than the usual 36.5-37 ° C, which can be measured with a conventional medical thermometer.
The brain is warmed up to 38.5 ° C, and in some cases up to 40 ° C, more during the day than at night, and in women more than in men.
In general, the normal temperature of the human body is far from constant. This also applies to brain temperature, although so far such data have been obtained mainly from patients in medical clinics.
However, scientists from the team of Cambridge University professor John O’Neill (John O’Neill) examined healthy people using new non-invasive observation methods such as magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( MRS ).
The study involved 40 volunteers of both sexes, aged 20 to 40 years. In addition, measurements were taken at different times of the day to monitor changes in temperature during wakefulness and during sleep and compare it with data on body temperature measured orally.
In fact, the average temperature of the brain was 38.5 ° C – almost two degrees higher than the body. “In the past, these temperatures have been seen in patients with brain injuries and have been linked to damage,” O’Neill said .
The exact values differed in different sexes and at different times of the day, in people of different ages and in different areas of the brain, and in women, depending on the phase of the menstrual cycle.
So, in women, the brain is on average warmed up by 0.4 ° C more, reaching 40.9 ° C, it also becomes hotter with age. During the day, the normal temperature of the brain fluctuates within one degree, decreasing during the night and increasing during the day.
The scientists also conducted a study of 114 patients who were treated after various brain injuries. It turned out that in this case the temperature varies even more noticeably – in the range from 32.6 to 42.3 °C.
And if it was previously believed that elevated brain temperature reduces the chances of its recovery, now the authors have come to the conclusion that there is no noticeable connection here. You can view heat maps in full detail on the Heatwave project website.
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