Research Hit: Role of Dopamine in Speed and Accuracy of Decisions

Making fast and accurate decisions is the goal right?

Right. But we know from research that there is a speed/accuracy trade off i.e. the faster you make a decisions the more it is likely to be inaccurate.

And what has dopamine got to do with this - I thought dopamine was a reward chemical also known for the little dopamine “hits” on social media.

Yes, dopamine is related to reward - as you mentioned - particularly with reward learning i.e. you do something and get a reward - in the classic rat experiments they get something to eat.

But dopamine is also involved in movement - Parkinson’s is also related to dopamine and L-Dopa the common Parkinson’s medication simply boosts dopamine. Dopamine is also considered one of the key motivation chemicals.

Ok, and what did these researchers do?