Intracerebroventricular administration of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) caused an increase in brain temperature, which appeared rapidly and preceded that in rectal temperature, in urethane-anesthetized rats. The increase in brain temperature was divided into two phases, an early increase and a late increase. Intracerebroventricular indomethacin, a cyclooxygenase inhibitor, completely abolished the NMDA-induced late increase, but not the early increase, in brain temperature. On the other hand, intracerebroventricular N-omega-nitro-L-arginine, a potent inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, strongly suppressed both the early and the late increases. These findings suggest that both nitric oxide and prostaglandins may be involved in the increase in brain temperature after NMDA receptor activation.