NEW YORK: For the first time new research has revealed how change in body temperature impacts the longevity of warm-blooded animals, including humans.

Bruno Conti of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and other researchers were conducting studies on how to prolong life and found that the lifespan of warm-blooded animals could be lengthened by slightly lowering their core body temperature, reported the health portal News Medical.

Lowering the body temperature of mice extended their lifespan by up to 20 per cent, the researchers said.

The mice in the study published in the journal Science were allowed to eat as much food as they wanted while their core body temperature was lowered modestly. This was done by focusing on the hypothalamus, a brain structure that acts as the body's thermostat.

The median life span in females was extended by about 20 per cent and in males by about 12 per cent.

The researchers say the male mice weighed roughly 10 per cent more than the females, which could have been down to the diminished energy needed to maintain a lower body temperature.

But the practice is unlikely to apply to humans as the technique, though "technically feasible", is essentially impractical and information on the safety of such an approach is scant, the researchers said.