Stuck Deciding? How Dopamine May Be Holding You Back from a Quick Choice

1. What the Study Looked At

Scientists wanted to understand why some people make decisions quickly while others take longer.
They focused on dopamine, a brain chemical that affects motivation, reward, and action.

To test this, they invited 31 healthy men to do a decision-making task under three conditions:

1. Placebo – no active drug

2. L-dopa – increases dopamine

3. Haloperidol – blocks one dopamine receptor but can also change dopamine balance in the brain

While making choices, the participants lay in an fMRI scanner, which shows what the brain is doing in real time.

The big question was simple:
Does dopamine change how much information your brain waits for before you finally decide?

2. What They Found

1) Dopamine did NOT make people learn better

Even when dopamine was increased, people didn’t become better at choosing the “correct” option.
Their learning didn’t change much.

2) But dopamine changed how FAST they decided

When dopamine levels were changed (with both drugs), people:

• made decisions faster

• needed less information before choosing

• reached their inner “OK, let’s decide now” point sooner

3) So dopamine affects decisiveness—not intelligence

It doesn’t make you smarter or help you learn better.
It changes how quickly your brain gives you the green light to act.

This is called your decision threshold — and dopamine lowers it.

3. What This Means for Everyday Life

If you often get stuck deciding…

• what to eat

• what to do next

• which option to choose

• whether to say yes or no

…it may be because your brain wants more certainty before acting.

Dopamine helps lower that “need more proof” feeling.

This means:

• taking forever to decide isn’t laziness — it’s your brain chemistry

• you don’t always need perfect clarity to move forward

• small shifts in your state (movement, nature, breathing) can help you decide easier

Your brain may only need a gentle nudge to act.

4. Small Reset Habits (Easy 10-Minute Ideas)

These quick nature-based resets help lower your inner “decision barrier” and bring clarity:

1) Walk-and-Decide (10 minutes)

Go for a short walk.
Give yourself two options.
When the timer ends: choose one.
Movement helps your brain stop looping.

2) Green-Breath Pause (1–2 minutes)

Stand near a tree, plant, or open sky.
Take 10 slow breaths.
Then pick one small decision you’ve delayed.

3) Outside Coin Flip (5 minutes)

Flip a coin outdoors between two choices.
Notice your reaction—relief or resistance?
That feeling usually tells you what you actually want.

4) Desk-to-Doorstep Reset (10 minutes)

If you’re stuck:
Step outside for fresh air.
Look at something natural.
Remove one option from your list.
Choose from what’s left.

These tiny shifts help your brain act instead of overthinking.

5. Limitations

1. The study tested only men, so results might be different for women or children.

2. The task was simple, not like real-life parenting, work, or emotional decisions.

3. Medicine-based dopamine changes are stronger than normal daily changes.

4. Faster decisions are not always better decisions.

5. Many other brain systems (not just dopamine) affect decision-making.

Reference

Chakroun, K., Wiehler, A., Wagner, B., Mathar, D., Ganzer, F., van Eimeren, T., Sommer, T., & Peters, J. (2023). Dopamine regulates decision thresholds during reinforcement learning in human males. Nature Communications, 14, 5369. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41130-y