All parts of the brain › Body temperature

What part of the brain controls body temperature?

The hypothalamus, above all the preoptic area at its front: the body’s thermostat, holding the core near 36.5–37.5 °C. It reads skin temperature and its own temperature-sensitive neurons, then turns on heat loss (more blood to the skin, sweating) or heat gain (shivering). Its commands run through the brainstem; the thalamus carries skin temperature to the insula, which registers how warm or cool you feel. [1][2][3][4]

The preoptic area is a region on the hypothalamus, not a separate shape. The 3D model has no shape for it, so the whole hypothalamus is lit; the region’s exact border is not drawn.

The 3D brain needs JavaScript. The list of parts still says what each one does for body temperature.

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All 4 parts are lit together. Drag to turn, pinch or scroll to zoom, tap a part on the brain or a name in the list to focus it; .

Body temperature: 4 parts lit

Hypothalamus, brainstem, thalamus and insula. Tap one to see where it is and what it does.

The parts and their roles

The preoptic area at its front holds thermosensitive neurons, gathers skin temperature and drives heat loss by sending more blood to the skin and starting sweating; further back, near the wall of the third ventricle, the primary motor centre for shivering is normally held back by that front heat centre and switches on when core temperature falls even a fraction of a degree below its set level. [3][4][1][5] Where is the hypothalamus?
Carries temperature signals both ways: neurons of the lateral parabrachial nucleus in the pons relay cold signals from the skin up to the preoptic area, and the rostral raphe pallidus nucleus in the medulla is one of the sympathetic output stations the preoptic area holds in check, which narrows skin blood vessels and raises heat production in the cold. [6][2] Where is the brainstem?
Skin temperature travels up the lateral spinothalamic tract, through the brainstem, to the ventral posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus, which passes it on to the cortex: the primary somatosensory cortex and, through thalamic nuclei, the posterior insula. [7][8] Where is the thalamus?
Registers how warm or cool a skin sensation is: activity in the right anterior insula tracks the degree of non-painful warmth or coldness, part of its wider job of sensing the body’s internal state, including temperature, and steering the autonomic nervous system. [8] Where is the insula?

Named areas on the lit gyri

The preoptic area, on the : The front-most region of the hypothalamus, classed as part of the anterior hypothalamus, with four named nuclei; it receives input from thermoreceptors in the skin, mucous membranes and the hypothalamus itself and is responsible for thermoregulation. [3][2]

How they work together

Normal core temperature sits around 36.5–37.5 °C; by mouth, normal readings in adults range about 36.1–37.8 °C (97.0–100.0 °F), and a recent study put the average at 36.8 °C (98.2 °F). Armpit readings run lower, about 36.0–36.9 °C. [1][2]
The body trades heat with its surroundings in four ways: conduction, convection, radiation and evaporation. The hypothalamus works mainly two levers on them, how much warm blood reaches the skin and how much sweat evaporates; during hard exercise evaporation becomes the main way heat leaves, which is why humid air, which slows evaporation, makes cooling harder. [1][2]
Shivering makes heat as a by-product: when the shivering centre in the hypothalamus is released, it sets off rapid contractions of the skeletal muscles, and the work they do warms the body. [5]
Heart rate is tied in: a slightly warmer body makes the heart beat faster and harder, and a cooler body slows its rate and strength, one reason the hypothalamus also sits in the network that sets heart rate. [9][4]
Honest limit: the preoptic area, the shivering centre, the parabrachial nucleus and the raphe pallidus are small clusters of neurons with no shape of their own on this model, so the whole hypothalamus and brainstem light; much of the wiring from the preoptic area to the brainstem was traced in animal studies; and the skin, sweat glands and spinal cord are outside the model. [2][3][6]

Sources

Facts describe anatomy and normal function only. A part lit here takes part in body temperature; it does not do it alone, and it does other jobs too. The 3D model is the adult male BodyParts3D brain (credits and licence); on it the brainstem includes the midbrain, pons and medulla, so lighting the brainstem lights all three.