Why do we get brain freezes?

CINCINNATI - If your favorite summer indulgence is ice cream, you have definitely had a brain freeze.  Have you ever wondered why they happen and how you can avoid them?

Military doctors are now studying brain freezes and say that when you wolf down a cold treat it sends an icy blast to a nerve on the roof of your mouth.  This is the same nerve that detects pain in your forehead.  Then your brain freezes.

Dr. Elizabeth Loder of the Headache Center at Harvard University says that when the very rapid cooling occurs the disturbance is picked up by the nerve.  Dr. Loder says brain freezes are very common especially if you're already prone to headaches.

The only way to avoid one- to eat slow, like your parents taught you.