Unraveling The Mystery Of Ice Cream Headaches – The ‘Brain Freeze Phenomenon’ – Neuroscience News 825706221773 Summary Summer treats can often cause the dreaded “brain freeze”. Researchers believe that this sudden pain is caused by the brain’s reaction when the temperature inside the head rapidly drops. It causes an increase in blood circulation to warm up the area, and the sudden expansion of blood vessel is interpreted by the brain as pain. These headaches can be relieved by eating cold foods more slowly or warming the roof of your lips. Key Facts Brain freeze is a sudden pain that occurs in the head as a result of rapid cooling. The brain then responds by warming up the affected area. The brain’s response to heat causes the sudden expansion of blood vessel in the roof of your mouth. This is perceived as pain. Although it is unpleasant, brain freeze is not harmful. It can be avoided by eating cold foods more slowly or warming the roof of your mouth. Source: Virginia Tech Summer brings picnics and outdoor barbecues. But it also brings ants, sunburns, mosquitos and other unpleasant things. Even sweet, refreshing delights such as ice cream or carbonated slushies may cause an unpleasant surprise – the dreaded ‘brain freeze,’ a sudden, splitting migraine. What is a brain freeze, and how can you enjoy a cool treat without having to suffer one? Kristofer Rau, a Virginia Tech neuroscientist, explains how to avoid these headaches or at least make the pain go away faster. Q: What causes a “brain freezing”? The ‘ice-cream headache’ or “brain freeze” is a sudden, intense pain in the head that you experience when you drink or eat something very cold. Your brain has an important job in ensuring that certain parts of your body are kept within specific temperature ranges. [embedded content] Credit: Neuroscience News “Your head is important. The normal response to a cool stimulus inside your head is to try and warm that area up again. This is done by increasing the flow rate of warm blood in the blood vessels on the roof of the mouth. “This rapid expansion of blood vessels was perceived by nerve cells but the brain interpreted it as something painful.” Q: Why does it hurt? The suddenness of the blood vessel expansion causes a burst in activity in the nerve ends in the roof of the mouth. This intensity is interpreted as something we need to pay attention to immediately and do something about. The nerve endings can detect similar changes in blood vessel size, but they are more gradual. Q. How dangerous is a “brain freezing”? “Although the pain is unpleasant, it’s your brain’s way of protecting our body. Even though a temporary cold stimulus will not cause any damage, in this case. A ‘brain-freeze’ is not harmful, and should subside within a few minutes or seconds. Q: How can you counter a “brain-freeze”? Everyone is susceptible to a “brain freeze”. If you get a “brain freeze”, you can either drink a beverage that is at room temperature or you can press your tongue against your roof of mouth to quickly warm up the area. You can reduce the risk of a “brain freeze” by eating or drinking cold foods more slowly so that your body adjusts.” Q. How can you avoid a snare? “The only way you can completely avoid having one is to avoid eating anything cold.” It would be a sad summer without ice-cream and popsicles, so the risk of a ‘brain freezing’ is worth it. This neuroscience news is about Author: Mike Allen Source: Virginia Tech Contact: Mike Allen – Virginia Tech ImageThe image has been credited to Neuroscience News

Summary: Summer treats can often lead to the dreaded ‘brain freeze’.

Researchers say this sudden pain is the brain’s reaction to a rapid cooling inside the head. It triggers an increase in blood flow to warm the area back up, and the resulting sudden expansion of blood vessels is interpreted as pain.

Fortunately, consuming cold items more slowly or warming up the roof of your mouth can help alleviate these frosty headaches.

Key Facts:

1. ‘Brain freeze’ is a sudden pain in the head due to rapid cooling and the brain’s subsequent response to warm up the area.
2. The sudden expansion of blood vessels in the roof of the mouth, triggered by the brain’s warming response, is interpreted as pain.
3. While unpleasant, ‘brain freeze’ isn’t harmful and can be avoided by consuming cold items more slowly or warming up the roof of the mouth.

Source: Virginia Tech

Summer brings picnics, outdoor barbecues, and poolside lounging, but also brings the not-so-pleasant things that harsh the fun vibes, such as ants, mosquitos, and sunburns. Even sweet, cooling delights like ice cream and carbonated slushies can deliver an unpleasant surprise — the dreaded “brain freeze,” a sudden, splitting headache.

But what is a “brain freeze,” and how can we enjoy a refreshingly cold treat without having to endure one? Virginia Tech neuroscientist Kristofer Rau explains the science beyond these quick-onset headaches and how to avoid them — or at least make them go away faster. 
 
Q: What is a “brain freeze” and what causes it? 

“‘Brain freeze’ or ‘ice cream headache’ is the occasional intense pain you feel in your head when drinking or eating something that is very cold. One important function of your brain is to make sure that certain areas of your body remain in specific temperature ranges.

“Your head is particularly important, so the normal response to a cold stimulus inside the head is to try to warm that area back up. It does this by rapidly increasing the flow of warm blood through the blood vessels in the roof of your mouth.

“This sudden expansion of blood vessels is sensed by nerve cells, but unfortunately the brain interprets the rapid expansion as something that is painful.”

Q: Why does it hurt so much?  

“The suddenness of the expansion in the blood vessels causes a burst of activity in the nerve endings in the roof of your mouth, and that intensity is interpreted by the brain as something that we really need to pay attention to and do something about immediately.

“Most of the regular headaches that we get are also caused by changes in the size of our blood vessels that are similarly detected by nerve endings, but these are more gradual changes.”

Q: How harmful is a “brain freeze”?

“Although pain is highly unpleasant, it is your brain’s natural way of making sure that we protect our body, even though in this case a temporary cold stimulus is not going to cause any actual damage. A ‘brain freeze’ is not harmful and should go away within a few seconds to a minute or so.”

Q: What can you do to counter a “brain freeze”? 

“Everyone is susceptible to getting a ‘brain freeze’. If you do get a ‘brain freeze’, you can either drink something that is room temperature, or you can push your tongue against the roof of your mouth to quickly warm the area back up. You can also decrease the chance of getting a ‘brain freeze’ by eating or drinking cold items more slowly, so that your body has time to adjust.”  

Q: How can you avoid one altogether?

“The only way to completely prevent having one altogether is to avoid consuming anything that is cold. Summer without ice cream and popsicles seems quite sad though, so it is probably worth the risk of the occasional ‘brain freeze’.”

About this neuroscience research news

Author: Mike Allen
Source: Virginia Tech
Contact: Mike Allen – Virginia Tech
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

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