New research looking at the brains of women during hot flashes has begun to answer some of the questions about what causes them and how to treat the symptoms. The research also supports the notion that simple methods -- like wearing light clothing, drinking cold drinks and turning up the air conditioning -- are a lot more helpful than most women think. Researchers at Wayne State University recently studied 12 menopausal women prone to hot flashes using magnetic resonance imaging technology that allowed the scientists to track for the first time the brain functions of the women during a hot flash. According to the results, \"this seems to be a temperature-related event, so it almost certainly originates somewhere in the brain,\" says Wayne State psychiatry professor Robert Freedman, who has led much of the recent hot-flash research. \"And we likely experience the discomfort of it in the brain.\" In other studies, Wayne State researchers have found that women who experience the most difficult hot flashes are different in how their bodies regulate temperature, sweating and cooling down.