Vincent Vergara's BioHero

Hello, Everyone! Today I am going to learn about the different parts of the brain and the neurotransmitters that allow them to carry out their vital functions. The brain part and neurotransmitter that I got was based on my birthday, October 26, which means I got Broca’s Area for the month and Serotonin for the day. Broca’s Area is the region of the brain that contains neurons involved in speech and allows us to speak properly and form a strong grammatical structure. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that regulates our feelings and emotions, but more specifically, it gives us our sense of well-being and happiness. Serotonin is also responsible for our mood and anxiety about certain situations. Now that you know my brain part and neurotransmitter, I would like to introduce my BioHero, HappyTalker!

“Hello, I’m HappyTalker! Let’s be friends!”

During HappyTalker’s childhood years, he experienced a lot of love from his family and friends. He grew up with a great relationship with everyone he knew. Because of this happy environment when he was young, HappyTalker became a very friendly, outspoken guy who wanted to become friends with everyone. When HappyTalker started going to school, he realized that not everyone is like him. Not everyone is joyful and enthusiastic like he is. Some were shy and quiet, unlike him, open and extroverted. So, he decided to become who he is now! He became a caring, compassionate, and loving friend to everyone by talking to them using his advanced communicating skills. He helped all of his lonely peers feel more comfortable and accepted by having friendly conversations with them using his Broca’s Area and figuring out how to help them. Due to his kind attitude towards others, he was given the nickname HappyTalker because of his positive and joyous outlook in life (Serotonin) and his great speaking skills (Broca’s Area). 

To learn more about Broca’s Area and Serotonin, click the following links:

Broca’s Area - https://www.britannica.com/science/Broca-area

Serotonin - https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/serotonin

The Super Squad:

Broca Dope - https://richardle2019psych.blogspot.com/2019/02/week-3-february-22-2019-here-i-come-i.html?m=1 / Broca Dope is here to help me speak out and communicate to change the world!

Happy Feet - https://elenalouispsych2019.blogspot.com/2019/02/superheroes.html?showComment=1551031643391&m=1#c2930030164867496771 / Happy Feet can really help me bring joy to others and help the world become a happier place!
HappyVision - https://leslieh2019psych.blogspot.com/2019/02/week-3-bioheroes-happyvision.html?m=1 / HappyVision is another HappyHero that can help me and the Super Squad eliminate negativity!

Vincent Vergara’s Memory Tests

Hello, Everyone! I took several memory tests today and found out that my memory is actually pretty good! I was surprised on some of the results because I didn’t think I was really good at retaining information and remembering them in detail. Today, I found out that my short term memory is above average through the following tests:

First Test: Remembering Common Words

In this test, I had to memorize 12 random words that are commonly used by the average person. The words that needed to be remembered were words like Tiger, Ice Cream, Vase, etc. I had a plan on remembering the words by saying them repeatedly in my head in a particular order. I even combined two words like orange and house into “Orange House,” to help me remember more words. In the end, I scored a decent 9 out of 12 words and forgot the words, spade, teapot, and cushion. I think this test was a good way of measuring the ability of a person to connect random words together to help memorize each of them, which is a good way of remembering information.

Second Test: Repeating Images

In this test, I needed to click on images that repeated or ones that I’ve already seen. The test  showed multiple images of animals that switched every ~3 seconds. I needed to memorize the photos fast to recognize if the next images have already been shown. After the test, I found out that I scored an impressive 92%. I was really shocked that I correctly recalled 92% of the images because I started to doubt my answers after being shown nearly identical images of some of the animals. But I actually did really good on it!

Third Test: Remembering Faces

In this test, I had to memorize the details of a face. I needed to remember the type of hair on the sides, hair in the middle, eyes, nose, mouth, and both left and right cheeks. There are 3 types of every single category/part and I had to choose out of the three to match the original face. The top picture is the original face and the bottom one is what I remember. I scored a 7 out of 10. As you can see, I perfectly remembered the type of hair, eyes, and mouth. I got the nose, right cheek, and chin wrong because I couldn’t remember how they looked like. In the end, I think this is a good test and even practice because it can help a person remember the details of the faces that they see after practicing this test.

Memory Research Article

According to this article by the University of Birmingham, when we remember a past event, our brain remembers it by reconstructing that particular experience in reverse order. This article is extremely interesting to me because I thought when something is being remembered by a person, the brain just remembers it instantly, instead of in reverse order. You can read more about it by clicking on the link below! 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190114082844.htm