Anyone’s who ever chugged a chilly drink or eaten ice cream too quickly has felt it: the excruciating pain behind the temples and forehead known as brain freeze. The short-lived condition has long been labeled a physiological mystery. Now research suggests a change in blood flow may be what brings on the Icy throb – and perhaps migraines too.
Intrigued by the high rate of chronic headaches he observed at the War Related Mness and Injury Study Center, scientist Jorge Serrador decided to test their origins. The onset of headaches can’t be predicted, and he didn’t want to prompt them with drugs.
So Serrador examined easy-to-induce brain freeze by having participants gulp ice water through a straw aimed at the roof of the mouth. Using a Doppler monitor. Serrador found that just before pain arose, blood flow surged in an artery that feeds the front of the brain. The rush creates pressure in the skull – bringing on the brain freeze. When the artery shrinks back, possibly as the palate warms up again, the reduced blood flow means relief. Serrador thinks a similar blood flow increase might be the root of migraines and other headaches, As for the torture that next milk shake could trigger? Drink more slowly.

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