Everyone's experienced that sharp, shooting headache as a result of stuffing their face with ice cream. Previously, scientists have suggested it's just a result of the rapid cooling and rewarming of blood vessels in the sinuses—but a new study shows that the cause is actually buried much deeper.
The research, carried out in part by Harvard Medical School, used trans-cranial Doppler imaging to study blood flow in the brains of patients while they had ice cream headaches—sometimes referred to as brain freeze—induced using iced water. They also performed the experiment with normal water as a control.
The results, which are being presented at the Experimental Biology 2012 conference, show that brain freeze is accompanied by a rapid dilation of the anterior cerebral artery, which floods the brain with blood and in turn causes pain. When the vessel constricts, patients report that the pain disappears. The researchers speculate that it's a form of self-defense for the brain:
Thanks for the headsup. Btw That means one needs to keep cold things away from the roof of once mouth!
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