Women's brains are hotter than men's and more likely to top 40C, study finds

dailystar.co.uk:

Science boffins have discovered that women's brains are about 0.4C warmer than men's, meaning they have a greater likelihood of topping 40C.The research has been done by the Medical Research Council's Laboratory for Molecular Biology in Cambridge and indicates that the difference is likely to be caused by the menstrual cycle.Most women were scanned in the post-ovulation phase with the difference between their brains' temperature to that of those who took part in the study who were in the pre-ovulation phase also around 0.4C higher.40 volunteers from the age of 20 to 40 were scanned in the morning, afternoon and evening on the same day at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh with the results of the study published in the Brain journal.

Researchers went on to find the average temperature to be higher than previously believed at 38.5C, but deeper brain structures commonly rose above 40C with the highest temperature taken being 40.9.The brain typically cools at night and warms up during the day.

And whilst such high temperatures would be regarded as a fever in other parts of the body – the mouth, for instance is normally less than 37C – in the brain, it can be a sign that the organ is functioning healthily.To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.The scientists also noted that temperatures increased with age, most markedly in deep brain regions where the average increase was 0.6C.

That led to the assumption that the brain's capacity to cool down deteriorates as we get older.Dr John O'Neill, group leader at the University of Cambridge, said: "To me, the most surprising finding from our study is that the healthy human brain can reach temperatures that would be diagnosed as.