Infamous ‘Brain Freeze’ Finally Explained: Daily Dose of Weird

Summer is coming on quickly this year; and if you're like me, you'll be relying on cold treats and beverages to keep cool as the temperatures get higher and higher.  But you'll also have to be wary of one of the most annoying parts of enjoying frozen goodness: the brain freeze.

Also called a "cold headache," the sharp head pains associated with consuming frozen foods too quickly can be debilitating enough to stop you in tour tracks.  Until recently, doctors didn't know exactly what caused these horrible inconveniences.  Then, a study on migraine headaches revealed the culprit.  The results of the study were presented on Sunday at the Experimental Biology 2012 meeting in San Diego.

Basically, researchers caused brain freezes in test subjects with the hope that the brain freeze would lead to a migraine, which could then be monitored and studied.

The researchers monitored the blood flow through their brains using an ultrasoundlike process on the skull. They saw that increased blood flow to the brain through a blood vessel called the anterior cerebral artery, which is located in the middle of the brain behind the eyes. This increase in flow and resulting increase in size in this artery brought on the pain associated with brain freeze. When the artery constricts, reining in the response to this increased flow, the pain disappears.

[via LiveScience.]

That would explain why it never helps when I frantically eat or drink something hot to try to get rid of the brain freeze.  Once it starts, you just have to wait it out.  At least I'll be spared a brain freeze-related burnt tongue this Summer!

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