Have you ever had brain freeze? Lots of people get it when they
eat something frozen. It feels like a really painful headache. I
get it when I eat ice cream!
Researchers realised that people who suffer from migraines - a
type of very painful headache - are more likely to get brain freeze
than people who don't get migraines.
The researchers decided to study brain freeze as a way of
studying migraines. They asked volunteers to sip iced water through
a straw. Blood flowing through the volunteers' brain was
monitored.
Brain freeze can be very
painful
When the volunteers got brain freeze a blood vessel called the
anterior cerebral artery increased in size. This blood vessel is
found in the middle of the brain, behind the eyes.
The anterior cerebral artery increased in size because it had
more blood flowing through it.
Scientists aren't sure why more blood flows through the anterior
cerebral artery when people get brain freeze. Perhaps it helps to
make sure that the brain doesn't get too cold.
Increasing the flow of warm blood through the brain will
counteract the cold from the frozen food or drinks.
When the artery reduced in size, the volunteers felt the pain
disappear. It seems like increased blood flowing through the
anterior cerebral artery causes brain freeze.
Increased blood flow through the
anterior cerebral artery causes brain freeze
Next time you've got brain freeze, you can think about the extra
blood flowing through your brain!
One way to prevent brain freeze is to stop the cold food or
drink touching the roof of your mouth. This means that your body
won't think that your brain is getting cold.
If migraines work in the same way, drugs that constrict blood
flow could help to treat them.