How To Create Thermal Like Effect?

[Stodium]

Does anybody have any tutorial I can follow that can achieve a similar effect as to the photo below.

I'm not sure what the effect is called, the best I could think of is almost like a thermal heat map effect but I don't think that's entirely it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[JJMack]

Having a heat wave we are  But you want thermal image  

[Semaphoric]

I would guess a Gradient Map. I think it is helped by the lighting of the original, which models the subject well. The area around the ear looks weird to me. I think the original was monochrome, and someone airbrushed out the ear. The smoothness of the airbrushing would yield the bulls eye effect with a Gradient Map applied.

[didiermazier]

Just a clue… try with gradient… several ways with or withour mask, uniform or noise

[Norman Sanders · Accepted solution]

Fig 1. Original

Fig 2. Curves (The possibilities are infinite.)

Fig 3. Lens Blur 

Fig 4. Hue/Saturation