Ice-cream, delicious but deadly (as I found out the hard way after being slightly over enthusiastic about a tub of Ben and Jerry's). After doing some reading up on what most have come to christen as "Brain Freeze" i've discovered that: a) it's not brain freeze at all as the brain has no pain receptors b) it is, in fact, the temples and the surface of the face which experiences the pain c) No-one really knows for certain why your brain suddenly feels like it has been sliced with ice. The best guess amongst scientists is that the cold substance shocks the Trigeminal nerve which is responsible for sensation in the face, the brain then gets the message the heat the area and so dilates the blood vessels around the area to heat it with blood flow. The sudden dilation causes pressure and the sudden wave of pain... well you learn something new everyday!

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