What is the physiological mechanism of brain freeze?

"One thing the brain doesn't like is for things to change, and brain freeze is a mechanism to prevent you from doing that," Godwin said. The brain can't actually feel pain despite its billions of neurons, Godwin said, but the pain associated with brain freeze is sensed by receptors in the outer covering of the brain called the meninges, where the two arteries meet. read more

Researchers say the rapid changes in blood flow associated with brain freeze may be part of a natural survival mechanism."The brain is one of the relatively important organs in the body, and it needs to be working all the time," says researcher Jorge Serrador of Harvard Medical School in a news release. read more