[Physiological basis and clinical relevance of brain temperature control]

It has been recently shown that small variations in cerebral temperature critically determine the extent of neurological damage following an ischaemic insult. These reports spurred a new interest in brain temperature among clinicians--neurologists and neurosurgeons. The information about this subject is very sparse and the mechanisms of cerebral metabolic heat dissipation are largely obscure. The author recapitulates the current knowledge of the problem and discusses the hypotheses relevant to human cerebral thermoregulation during normothermia and hyperthermia. Clinical relevance of these problems is also discussed.