To determine regions of brain activation associated with menopausal hot flashes and sweating.
Design
Controlled laboratory study.
Setting
University medical center.
Patient(s)
Symptomatic postmenopausal women and asymptomatic eumenorrheic women.
Intervention(s)
None
Main Outcome Measure(s)
Brain activation measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Result(s)
Significant (P<.001) areas of activation during hot flashes in symptomatic women included the insula and anterior cingulate cortex. Sweating in the eumenorrheic women was associated (P<.001) with activity in the anterior cingulate and superior frontal gyrus.
Conclusion(s)
Activation of the insular cortex is associated with the “rush of heat” described during menopausal hot flashes. Thermoregulation in humans appears to be represented in a distributed cortico-subcortical network rather than in a single localized structure.