1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff works. Hey, brain stuff, 2 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: it's Christian Seger. We get headaches for a lot of reasons. 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: Sometimes foods like chocolate, cheese, or cured meat can cause them. 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: Other times it's stress or maybe changes in our sleep habits. 5 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: Headaches are also caused by eye strain, sinus problems, coughing, 6 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: and even sex. And if you're really unlucky, they're a 7 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: sign of neurological problems. But do you know what causes 8 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: headaches and over one third of the population ice cream? 9 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: Diabolical evil ice cream otherwise known as a brain freeze 10 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: or a quote cold stimulus headache in more lofty circles. 11 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: The ice cream headache only requires two things. First, something 12 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: cold touching the roof of your mouth, and second, a 13 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: hot environment like a summer day or a sauna or 14 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: a yoga class full of sweaty people. That's where we 15 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: all usually eat ice cream. Right. Brain freeze is caused 16 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: by both a constriction and dilation of the blood vessels 17 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: in your head. There's a nerve center just above your mouth, 18 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: and when it gets cold, it signals the anterior cerebral 19 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: artery to widen, trying to heat your brain with warm blood. 20 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,840 Speaker 1: Since the skull is a closed structure, the sudden rush 21 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: of blood could be increasing pressure, which causes the pain 22 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: we feel. It's kind of a horrible stabbing achey feeling, 23 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 1: but the warm air around you causes these blood vessels 24 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: to restrict again, relieving the pain about ten to twenty 25 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: seconds after its onset. This experience is reportedly similar to 26 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: a migraine headache, albeit a very short one. It's possible 27 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: the influx of blood is supposed to protect your brain 28 00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: from extreme cold. The pain is usually in the mid 29 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: frontal area, but it can be unilateral in other parts 30 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: of the brain. But don't worry. Experts say that ice 31 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: cream isn't going to give you brain damage or anything. 32 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: In fact, when they're correcting aneurysms, doctors sometimes lower your 33 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: brain temperature down to sixty four degrees fahrenheit or seventeen 34 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: point eight degrees celsius. So ice cream ain't no thing, 35 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: except there's only one cure for brain freeze. Never eat 36 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,360 Speaker 1: ice cream again. No, I'm just kidding. In one article 37 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:34,600 Speaker 1: about these headaches, a researcher actually said ice cream abstinence 38 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: is not indicated, so keep eating all the ice cream 39 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: you want, but slow it down a bit there, Hoss. 40 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,679 Speaker 1: Try to eat in small bites and avoid the roof 41 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: of your mouth. Also, you may be more likely to 42 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: get brain freeze if you already get migraines. The science 43 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: isn't confirmed on that, but since the vascular response of 44 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: ice cream headaches is similar to the experience of migraine sufferers, 45 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: they may be are vulnerable. Researchers are investigating this connection 46 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 1: now in hopes of developing even better painkillers. Check out 47 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: the brainstuff channel on YouTube, and for more on this 48 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.