Researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory for Molecular Biology in the UK, who produced the first 4D map of healthy human brain temperature, have found that an average human brain temperature is 38.5 degrees Celsius, with deeper brain regions often exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, particularly in women during the daytime. Normal human brain temperature varies much more than previously thought, and this could be a sign of healthy brain function.

The map overturns several previous assumptions and shows the remarkable extent to which brain temperature varies by brain region, age, sex, and time of day. Importantly, these findings also challenge a widely held belief that human brain and body temperature are the same.