(Photo: PTI)WHY DO WE GET BRAIN FREEZE?
That rapid flood of warm blood causes the blood vessels to dilate just as quickly as they contracted.
A brain freeze typically peaks within twenty to thirty seconds and fades on its own as the blood vessels stabilise.
(Photo: Unsplash)Interestingly, people who suffer from migraines tend to get brain freeze more frequently and more intensely, suggesting the same neural pathways are involved in both.
advertisementResearchers have studied brain freeze partly because it offers a controllable, repeatable, and harmless way to trigger and observe vascular headache mechanisms in the lab.
It is peak summer in India, temperatures are sitting well above 40°C across the north, and the one reliable escape is a cold treat; an ice cream, a kulfi, a glass of lemonade poured over crushed ice.
Naturally, you might take a large bite or a generous sip, and for about three seconds, everything is fine.
And then it comes. A sharp pain is felt behind the forehead that seems completely disproportionate to eating dessert. And as unexpectedly as it comes, it disappears.
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Brain freeze is one of the more commonly felt but not widely known things the human body does in response to something entirely harmless.
But it's a question worth asking: why does eating or drinking cold items causes pain in our heads? People in Uttar Pradesh indulge in cold treats during an ongoing heatwave. (Photo: PTI)
WHY DO WE GET BRAIN FREEZE?
The roof of the human mouth, particularly a spot at the back called the sphenopalatine ganglion, is packed with blood vessels and nerve endings that are extremely sensitive to temperature.
When something very cold touches this area, those blood vessels constrict rapidly in response.
The brain interprets this sudden temperature drop as a potential threat and immediately sends blood rushing to the area to warm it back up. It's a kind of reflex designed to protect sensitive tissue.
That rapid flood of warm blood causes the blood vessels to dilate just as quickly as they contracted. It is this sudden swing that triggers the pain. Women walk while eating ice cream on a hot day. (Representational Photo: Getty)
A HUMAN ERROR
What's weird is that something happening in our mouths, triggers a pain in our heads.
And this is where the body makes what seems like an obvious error.
The sphenopalatine ganglion sits close to the trigeminal nerve, one of the largest nerve networks in the face, which also happens to carry signals from the forehead and temples.
When the ganglion fires a pain signal, the brain misreads its origin and places the sensation in the forehead rather than the mouth. Doctors call this referred pain.
A brain freeze typically peaks within twenty to thirty seconds and fades on its own as the blood vessels stabilise.
Pressing your tongue against the roof of your mouth, or drinking something warm, speeds up the process by warming the sphenopalatine ganglion back to normal temperature directly. An image of ice cream carts sitting on an idle street in Delhi. (Photo: Unsplash)
Interestingly, people who suffer from migraines tend to get brain freeze more frequently and more intensely, suggesting the same neural pathways are involved in both.
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Researchers have studied brain freeze partly because it offers a controllable, repeatable, and harmless way to trigger and observe vascular headache mechanisms in the lab.
So the next time a kulfi ruins three seconds of your afternoon, your brain hasn’t malfunctioned but has simply done exactly what it's meant to do. To protect you from the cold.
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