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Asked by dizzyg12 to Susan, Rachel, Lou on 12 Nov 2013.
Question: What happens when you have 'brainfreeze' after eating or drinking cold things?
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Rachel Dakin answered on 12 Nov 2013:
Love ice cream, hate brain freeze!
When we eat something cold it cools the roof of our mouth. This stimulates nerves that in turn cause blood vessels to get bigger (dilate) to try and warm the area back up again. However when the blood vessels dilate they stimulate pain receptors or sensors. The nerve that sends the pain signal to the brain also detects pain in the forehead so you can’t quite tell where the ‘pain’ is coming from ……………and BRAIN FREEZE!I don’t think everyone gets the same brain freeze, maybe an ice cream eating experiment is required 🙂
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Susan Skelton answered on 13 Nov 2013:
I think Rachel has answered this well, so I won’t add more … except to say that I would be very happy to volunteer for the ice-cream eating experiment! 😉
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Louise Brown answered on 13 Nov 2013:
Apparently, if you put your tounge on the top of your mouth as soon as you feel it coming, it stops the brain freeze! I have yet to try it though!
Comments
dizzyg12 commented on :
Lol! I definitely think that a ice cream experiment should be held 🙂
Simon commented on :
I think we should all do it. Scientists like to repeat experiments lots of times to make sure the results are correct. We should all do the test 5 times just to be sure.