Brain Freeze Explained: Trigeminal Nerve Mix-Ups, Cats and Skull Drills

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

The cold stimulus headache, better known as ice cream headache or brain freeze, starts on the roof of the mouth. This episode explains how freezing food on the richly vascular palate makes blood vessels constrict and then rapidly swell again, a rebound vasodilation that sets off dense pain receptors. The signal travels along the trigeminal nerve, which also serves the forehead, and the brain refers the pain to the wrong place, the same mechanism that sends heart attack pain to the arm. An alternative theory points to the anterior cerebral artery flooding the brain with warm blood, raising pressure inside the rigid skull until the vessel constricts and the pain stops.

The same neurovascular wiring is implicated in migraine aura and throbbing pain. A study in the journal Headache found 17 percent of migraine patients got a headache from one swallow of ice cream, compared with 46 percent of students. In another study, eating ice cream in under five seconds produced headaches in 27 percent of people, versus 12 percent for those who took more than 30 seconds, and children are more prone than adults. The first written account came from Patrick Brydone in the 1770s, describing a British naval officer in Sicily who spat out ice cream with a horrid oath.

Why cats get brain freeze, and the whisker sensitivity of their trigeminal nerve
The phrase ice cream headache in 1937, brain freeze in this sense in 1986, and 7-Eleven's trademark
A competitive ice skater who triggered it by breathing the cold air above the rink
Awake neurosurgery patients who felt brain freeze when a drill reached the inner table of the skull
Pressing the tongue to the palate to rewarm the vessels

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(16184)

The Art of Adult Friendship: Why Quality Matters More Than Quantity

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore how our understanding of friendship changes as we grow old...

9 Nov 18min

Summer Explained: The Science, History, and Traditions of the Warmest Season

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore summer, the season most closely associated with sunshine, ...

7 Nov 18min

Sir Patrick Stewart: From Shakespeare to Star Trek, the Life and Legacy of a Legend

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the extraordinary life of Sir Patrick Stewart, the acclaim...

7 Nov 49min

Larry David: The Genius of Social Awkwardness, Seinfeld, and Curb Your Enthusiasm

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the life and career of Larry David, the comedian, writer, ...

6 Nov 38min

Why Australian Shepherds Aren't From Australia

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the history of the Australian Shepherd, an intelligent, en...

5 Nov 45min

Labrador Retriever: From Newfoundland Fishing Dogs to Modern-Day Heroes

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the remarkable history of the Labrador Retriever, one of t...

4 Nov 53min

Discovering Ireland: A Journey Through History, Culture, and the Wild Atlantic Way

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore Ireland through the philosophy of slow travel: go slower, ...

3 Nov 48min

Willie Hutch: An Overnight I'll Be There Lyric and The Mack's Soundtrack

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!William McKinley Hutchins was born in Los Angeles in December 1944 and raised in Dallas, where h...

2 Nov 21min