Tickly Feet Nina and the Neurons: Brilliant Bodies

# If you've got a question and you don't know where to go

# Ask Nina for some help Cos she's got a science show

# She makes sense of her senses While helping all her fans

# By doing her experiments with potions and with bangs

-# Touch your tongue

-Tongue!

-# Fingers

-Fingers!

-# Eyes.

-Eyes!

-Ears.

-Ears!

-Nose.

-Nose!

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Luke, he helps us with our eyes and Felix with our touch

# Ollie sniffs out smells And Belle, she hears so much

# Bud is Ollie's brother He helps us with our taste

# They're Nina's little Neurons And they're coming to your place!

-# Touch your tongue

-Tongue!

-# Fingers

-Fingers!

-# Eyes.

-Eyes!

-Ears.

-Ears!

-Nose.

-Nose!

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Oh yeah! #

Hello. I'm cleaning the lab and dusting Mr Skeleton

with my feather duster.

-Tickle, tickle, tickle.

-BEEP BEEP BEEP

I hear a beep, I see a flash. I wonder what they're going to ask.

-BOTH: Hi, Nina!

-Hello!

-We've got a question for you.

Why are our feet so ticklish?

That's a great question. Why are our feet so ticklish?

My feet are very ticklish but I've never thought about why.

Come down to the lab and we'll investigate.

BOTH: See you soon, Nina. Bye!

I'll need help to answer this and I know just who to ask.

OK, Neurons, time to get to work.

ALL: Neurons at the ready, Nina.

OK. Today's question is why are our feet so ticklish?

Which Neuron will be most useful to help find the answer?

ALL: Me! Me! Me! Oh, me!

Will it be fabulous Felix?

I can help so very much if you need the sense of touch.

Will it be beautiful Belle?

I send messages to brain from ear. If there's a sound, I'll help you hear.

-Will it be lovely Luke?

-For looking and seeing, day or night,

-I'll help you with your sense of sight.

-Will it be awesome Ollie?

If it's pongy or whiffy but you can't tell,

-my messages help your sense of smell.

-Or will it be baby Bud?

Sour, salty, bitter or sweet, I'm your taste buddy whenever you eat!

Oh, it's Felix!

ALL: Go, Felix! Go, Felix!

Go, Felix! Go, Felix! Go, Felix! Go, Felix!

Marvellous! A little touch can mean so much, Nina.

Today's question is why are our feet so ticklish?

Tickles are something you feel, so Felix our touch Neuron will help us.

I'd better get the lab ready before the experimenters arrive.

Zoe likes jacket potatoes and Brier likes tangerines.

They both want to know why our feet are so ticklish.

So today, for one day only, Zoe and Brier become the experimenters!

-Hi, guys.

-BOTH: Hi, Nina!

-Welcome to my science lab.

Your question is why are our feet so ticklish

but why do you want to know?

Our feet are very ticklish and it's a funny feeling.

But we want to know WHY our feet are so ticklish.

Many parts of our bodies can be ticklish.

Armpits, necks, tummies, but feet do seem to be especially ticklish.

We need to experiment to find out more.

Let's use our senses.

ALL: Woop-woo! A senses experiment! We're ready, Nina!

Brier, you and I will sit here, and Zoe, you're going to try

and tickle us using a very hi-tech piece of ticking equipment.

-What do you think that is?

-Fingers.

-Yes, fingers.

Fingers are brilliant tickling tools. Brace yourself, Brier.

OK, get tickling.

-Hee-hee!

-Ha-ha!

-Ha-ha!

-Hee-hee!

Ha-ha! Ha-ha!

How would you describe the tickly feeling?

Like a feather on your foot!

It's a sort of itchy, shivery sensation, Nina.

-And do you like the feeling?

-Yes!

And Zoe, what do you see happening to our feet and our toes

when you're tickling them?

-They're scrunching up!

-Yeah!

-Our feet are trying to escape from the tickle touch!

-Ha-Ha!

Oh, I can't bare it any more! Please, stop!

Did you notice the tickling made us pull our feet away?

Yes, I couldn't bear it!

Some people believe this is because our body thinks

the tickle could be an insect sneaking up on us.

Some insects bite, so our body makes us shake it off or move away.

Zoe, can you try tickling us again but not so light a tickle touch.

Off you go!

-Oh...how does that feel this time?

-Hmm...not so ticklish.

So our senses experiment has shown us that tickles only happen

when something touches our skin very lightly.

How do our bodies know when they are being tickled?

We need to go somewhere with lots of tasty treats!

-Let's go, experimenters!

-BOTH: Yay!

-I wonder where Nina is taking us.

-Nina mentioned tasty treats.

Perhaps, it's a fruit market with sweet-smelling strawberries.

Or a supermarket with cheese, ham, broccoli, beans and...

Och, I'm starving!

We're here! And it sure looks like we're in for a yummy surprise.

-Hi, Aileen.

-Hi, Nina.

-This is Aileen. She's a chef.

It's her job to make tasty treats for people.

-What have you got cooking?

-I've made a sticky toffee pudding.

-Shall we see if it's ready? ALL: Yes!

-Yes!

The pudding is just out of the oven so it's very hot.

Part of chef's job is to make sure the food is warm and cooked enough,

but not too hot, in case it burns their mouths.

So she'll use this, a sensor. Sensor means feeler

and this clever little box can feel how hot or cold our food is.

You put the spike into the food and it gives you a number on the screen.

The bigger the number, the hotter the food is.

The smaller the number, the colder the food. Let's test the pudding.

Oh, yep, that's definitely too hot to eat.

Let's test another food while the pudding cools down.

-Does anybody like ice cream?

-Yes! We all love ice cream.

-Do you think ice cream would be hot or cold?

-Definitely cold.

Let's see. Can you put the sensor into the ice cream for me, Brier?

You're right. The number is small

because the ice cream is very cold.

And our feet can sense hot or cold too.

But they can also sense lots of other things, like tickly tickles.

That's because our feet contain nerves.

I use nerves to feel things for Nina.

Yes, you do, Felix.

We have nerves in our skin all over our bodies

and the nerves act like sensors.

Some nerves sense hot and cold

and other nerves can sense a really light touch of a sneaky tickle.

Oh! Sticky toffee pudding!

-Thanks, chef.

-Enjoy!

Let's go back to the lab for one final experiment.

OK, Zoe, your shoes are off and you'll find out why

I've asked you to take your lab coat off.

Brier, you'll be the top tickler for this experiment.

I have here for you an extra large, extra soft, extra tickly feather!

Woo-hoo!

Oh, lots of touchy, feely tickles! Marvellous.

This experiment will test different parts of Zoe's body

to see how ticklish they are.

Zoe, your job is to stay nice and still

and try not to react to the tickling. Can you manage that?

Will you try your best? Great. I'm going to mark on this chart

whether each body part

is very tickly or not very tickly.

Everybody ready?

OK, so forehead first. Get tickling.

-How does that feel?

-It's OK, Nina. But not really tickly.

So Zoe's forehead isn't very tickly.

Next, let's try back of the hand.

Not too tickly?

It's OK, but not very tickly.

Not very tickly. Ah-ha! It's armpits next!

Oh, great! Prepare to hear some giggling!

-Oooo! Ha-ha!

-Hee-hee.

-You're supposed to be staying still!

-Yes, Nina, but it's very tickly.

OK, so let's put armpit down as very tickly.

Last of all, it's feet. Get that extra large, extra soft,

extra tickly feather tickling those feet.

-Hee-hee!

-Ha-ha!

I don't even need to ask what I'm marking for feet!

A big tick next to very tickly.

This experiment has shown us that Zoe's forehead and back of hand

aren't particularly ticklish,

but her armpits and feet are very ticklish indeed.

This diagram should help us explain why.

This is the body.

And these little dots are the nerves that sense tickles.

Different types of nerves in our skin sense different things.

Some nerves sense hot and cold, and others, like the ones shown here,

sense the really light touch of a tickle.

-Can you see many tickle nerves in the forehead?

-BOTH: No, Nina.

Where are there lots of the nerves that sense tickles?

-BOTH: In the feet.

-That's right.

Zoe, you said your forehead wasn't ticklish and that's because

most of us have hardly any nerves that sense tickles in our foreheads.

Your feet could hardly bear to be tickled and that's because

most of us have more tickle nerves in our feet than anywhere else.

Your question was why are feet so ticklish?

And I think we've answered it.

Tickles are caused by something touching our skin lightly.

A bit like an insect.

When something tickles us, nerves in our skin send a message to our brain

and this makes our body wriggle

as it tries to escape the tickle and it can often make us laugh.

Everyone's body is different, but many of us have more nerves

that sense tickles in our feet than anywhere else.

This is why our feet can feel more ticklish than the rest of our bodies

so I hope that's answered your question.

-BOTH: Thanks, Nina. Bye!

-Bye!

If you want to find out more about the science that's all around us,

go to the Nina section on the CBeebies website. Have fun!

-# Hearts beating.

-Lungs breathing

-Fingers feeling.

-Mouths eating

-# And don't forget your brain

-Brilliant bodies, brilliant bodies

# Inside and out

# Brilliant bodies Brilliant bodies

# Come on, let's find out about

# Handy hands, bendy knees, stretch your backs and noses that sneeze

-# We all have brilliant bodies

-Brilliant bodies!

# Every part has a job to do Even scabs and earwax too

-# We all have brilliant bodies

-Brilliant bodies!

# Brilliant bodies, brilliant bodies Lashes to protect our eyes

# Brilliant bodies, brilliant bodies and don't forget to exercise. #

I've had a brilliant day!

All that giggling, trying to work out what causes a tickle!

It's been a marvellous day.

What a touchy, feely, feathery tickle-fest,

especially on those feet!

Ah, it's been such a great day, man, finding out

where the tickle nerves are in the body!

And remember, everyone's body is different but they're all brilliant!

-See you again soon! Bye!

-Bye!