A Wonderleaf question
Why do we get a brain freeze from cold treats?
a real page from the book
Brain freeze happens when something very cold chills the roof of your mouth fast. Nearby blood vessels tighten and then widen, and nerves carry a pain message that the brain reads as coming from the forehead, even though the cold spot is inside your mouth.
The grown-up term is sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia, but the problem is brief and harmless. Warmth fixes it: pressing your tongue upward or pausing between bites gives those vessels time to calm, which is why slower spoonfuls are kinder to a slushie-loving kid.
Wonder words
- vessels
- nerves
- forehead
- signal
Try it out
Share a cold drink slowly, pausing after each sip to notice when the roof of the mouth warms again.
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