title: Cortical activation during menopausal hot flashes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine regions of brain activation associated with menopausal hot flashes and sweating.
  
  
  METHODS
  Controlled laboratory study.
  
  
  METHODS
  University medical center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Symptomatic postmenopausal women and asymptomatic eumenorrheic women.
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  METHODS
  Brain activation measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging.
  
  
  RESULTS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA. aa2613@wayne.edu
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Freedman
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Benton
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Genik
authors.forename: Francis X
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Graydon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D019584:Hot Flashes / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008593:Menopause; D008597:Menstrual Cycle; D008875:Middle Aged; D013546:Sweating / Q000502:physiology