Dopamine And Decision Making: More Speed, Less Accuracy

Dopamine is associated with a number of aspects of reward learning and action selection. The neurotransmitter also plays a role in various mental disorders and is important for self-motivation: according to one theory, it regulates how much effort is spent on actions, or how quickly they are performed.

In addition to its well-known functions, dopamine also seems to regulate a speed-accuracy trade-off. This describes the complex relation between a person's willingness to react slowly and make relatively fewer mistakes, and their willingness to react quickly and make relatively more mistakes.

The scientists were able to show that when dopamine release was elevated pharmacologically, the parameter that represents this speed-accuracy trade-off was reduced. This effect was stronger the faster the participants made decisions.