It's a hot summer day. You take a big bite of ice cream, and suddenly a sharp pain shoots across your forehead. You freeze, waiting for the discomfort to pass before enjoying the next bite.
Most of us shrug it off as a harmless annoyance and keep eating. Yet scientists have become increasingly interested in brain freeze because it may reveal important clues about how migraine and other headache disorders develop.
Recent reporting by BBC Future also highlighted growing scientific interest in brain freeze as a potential window into migraine biology and headache research.
Known medically as a cold stimulus headache (CSH), brain freeze is more than just a funny summer inconvenience.
Research suggests that it involves some of the same nerve pathways associated with migraine and may even involve chemical messengers that play a key role in headache disorders.
The medical term for brain freeze is cold stimulus headache (CSH). According to the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3), it is a primary headache triggered by exposure to cold substances, whether eaten, drunk, or inhaled. The most familiar form occurs when cold food or drinks rapidly touch the roof of the mouth or the back of the throat.¹
The pain usually appears within seconds, is often felt in the forehead or temples, and disappears quickly once the cold stimulus is removed. While the experience is brief, the mechanisms behind it are surprisingly sophisticated.2
Cold stimulus headache is not limited to frozen foods and beverages. In some individuals, breathing very cold air can trigger a similar headache response through the same pain pathways.¹
According to ICHD-3 diagnostic criteria, the headache develops almost immediately after exposure to the cold stimulus and typically resolves within 10 minutes once the trigger is removed.¹
Cold stimulus headache is particularly common among children and adolescents, although adults experience it as well. Studies have reported varying prevalence rates depending on the population studied, suggesting that age, genetics, and underlying headache disorders may influence how often it occurs. 4
When something extremely cold touches the palate, specialized temperature-sensitive receptors are activated. One of the key players is a receptor known as TRPM8, which functions as the body's cold sensor. Once stimulated, these receptors send urgent signals through the nervous system.2
At the same time, blood vessels in the palate respond rapidly to the sudden temperature change. They constrict and then dilate as the body attempts to restore normal temperature. Researchers believe this abrupt vascular response contributes to the sensation of pain.2
But the most important part of the process involves the trigeminal nerve, the major sensory nerve of the face. Signals originating in the palate travel through this nerve, and the brain interprets them as pain coming from the forehead. This phenomenon is known as referred pain.2
This explains why pain is usually felt in the forehead rather than the mouth, even though the trigger originates inside the oral cavity.²
In other words, your forehead is not actually freezing. Your brain is simply misinterpreting where the pain signal is coming from.
Despite lasting only a few seconds, brain freeze has become a valuable model for headache research.
Unlike migraine attacks, which occur unpredictably and can be difficult to capture during imaging studies, cold stimulus headaches can be induced safely and reproducibly in laboratory settings. This allows researchers to investigate trigeminal nerve activation, vascular responses, and pain-processing pathways under controlled conditions. 2
By understanding what happens during brain freeze, researchers gain valuable insights into broader headache mechanisms.
One of the earliest studies investigating ice cream headache found that approximately 93% of individuals with migraine reported experiencing cold stimulus headaches, compared with only about one-third of people without migraine.³ Subsequent studies have repeatedly supported this association.²
The connection may involve calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a molecule that plays a central role in migraine. During cold stimulus headache, activation of the trigeminal system may trigger the release of CGRP, a molecule known to increase pain sensitivity and play a major role in migraine.2
This finding is particularly interesting because many of today's most advanced migraine treatments specifically target CGRP pathways.
Researchers have even documented cases in which a cold stimulus headache was followed by a migraine several hours later, suggesting that brain freeze can occasionally act as a migraine trigger in susceptible individuals.2
Not everyone experiences brain freeze with the same frequency or intensity.
A systematic review found evidence of familial clustering, meaning that people with a family history of cold stimulus headache may be more likely to experience it themselves.4
Genetics may therefore influence how sensitive an individual's nervous system is to cold-induced pain. The same review also highlighted the strong overlap between cold stimulus headache and migraine, particularly in younger populations.4
Research suggests that cold stimulus headache may cluster within families. Studies reviewed over the past four decades found that individuals whose parents experience ice cream headaches are more likely to experience them as well. Although researchers have not yet identified specific genes responsible for this tendency, the findings suggest that inherited differences in pain sensitivity and trigeminal nerve responses may influence susceptibility to brain freeze. 4
Brain freeze is harmless and usually resolves within seconds. If it happens, several simple tricks may help:
Stop eating or drinking the cold item.
Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth to warm the area.
Sip lukewarm water.
Cover your mouth and nose and breathe warm air slowly.
These methods help warm the palate and reduce activation of cold-sensitive nerve pathways.²
Taking smaller bites, allowing cold foods to warm slightly before swallowing, and avoiding rapid consumption can reduce the likelihood of triggering brain freeze. Individuals with migraine may benefit particularly from being mindful of cold food intake because of the overlap between the two conditions.2
Brain freeze may last less than a minute, but it reveals an extraordinary amount about how the nervous system works. Behind that brief forehead pain lies a network of temperature receptors, blood vessels, cranial nerves, and chemical messengers that scientists continue to investigate.
So the next time an ice cream cone leaves you momentarily frozen in place, remember that your body is performing a surprisingly complex neurological experiment. What feels like a simple summer inconvenience is actually a small demonstration of the remarkable, and sometimes confusing, ways your brain interprets pain.
For most people, brain freeze is harmless. But frequent or unusually severe episodes may be another reminder to pay attention to recurring headaches and migraine symptoms.
What feels like a simple summer inconvenience may actually provide a window into the same nerve pathways involved in migraine. For researchers, that brief burst of forehead pain offers valuable clues about how the brain processes headache and pain.²
International Headache Society. “4.5.2 Headache Attributed to Ingestion or Inhalation of a Cold Stimulus.” The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd Edition (ICHD-3). Accessed June 3, 2026. https://ichd-3.org/other-primary-headache-disorders/4-5-cold-stimulus-headache/4-5-2-headache-attributed-to-ingestion-or-inhalation-of-a-cold-stimulus/
Toldo, Irene, and Massimiliano Valeriani. “Cold-Stimulus Headache: From Pathophysiology to Clinical Features.” Life 13, no. 4 (2023): 973. https://doi.org/10.3390/life13040973
Bird, Neil, and Robert MacGregor. “Ice Cream Headache and Migraine.” Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain 16, no. 5 (1976): 222–225. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-4610.1976.hed1605222.x
Bonemazzi, Ilaria, Maria Federica Pelizza, Giulia Berti, Claudio Ancona, Margherita Nosadini, Stefano Sartori, and Irene Toldo. “Cold-Stimulus Headache in Children and Adolescents.” Life 13, no. 4 (2023): 973. https://doi.org/10.3390/life13040973