Author of our Lives?

Every morning, we wake up to the sound of our alarm clocks, and with that simple act, a cascade of biochemical events begins. Our heart rate increases and our body floods with cortisol, shifting us from the calm state of sleep to the alertness required for the day ahead. This scenario is not unique to any particular one of us; but something common to all of us, influencing our decisions in ways we might not even realize.

The Morning Routine

Imagine yourself waking up and without ever knowing, you make your first decision of the day by groggily moving out of the bed. You walk towards the kitchen with your brain releasing dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible for motivation and reward, as you anticipate the hit of caffeine that the daily cup of coffee provides. Now comes the first big decision of the day: Breakfast. You choose whether to have a healthy breakfast or indulge your cravings with a sugary donut?

Here, your prefrontal cortex, the rational part of his brain, nudges you towards the healthier choice, recognizing its long-term benefits. However, the dopamine-driven reward system, craving the immediate pleasure of the donut, creates a conflict. This interchange reflects the dual-process theory of decision-making: the conscious and the unconscious. Your ability to resist the donut and opt for a healthy breakfast is a victory for your well-functioning prefrontal cortex and stable serotonin levels, which help regulate his mood and suppress impulsive behavior.

The Workday

As you begin the workday, you face a multitude of decisions. Each one, whether it’s solving a problem, responding to an email, or planning a project timeline, involves a microcosm of neurochemical activity. When faced with a particularly challenging problem, your body releases cortisol, heightening your focus. Successfully resolving the issue rewards you with a hit of dopamine, reinforcing your problem-solving behavior.

Midway through his day, you experience frustration when a coworker fails to meet a project deadline. Your initial reaction is one of anger, an emotional response driven by a surge in testosterone and a rapid-fire release of glutamate. However, before you react harshly, you takes a deep breath, allowing your serotonin levels to calm your immediate emotional response. Empathy for his coworker, influenced by the release of oxytocin, promotes bonding and trust, reminding you of the importance of maintaining strong, positive relationships in the workplace. This careful balance of hormones and neurotransmitters helps you handle the situation calmly and constructively.

Evening Decisions

As evening approaches, you face one last significant decision: should you stay late to finish a task or go home and spend time with your family? The stress of the workload triggers a release of cortisol, pushing you to stay and complete the work. However, the desire for social bonding, driven by oxytocin, pulls you in the opposite direction. The tug-of-war between these biochemical forces shapes your final choice.

In this single day, you make countless decisions, each influenced by a complex web of neural and hormonal activity. From the moment you wake up, to the decisions about food, work, social interactions, and finally, the decision to end your workday, your choices are shaped by the influential effects of neurotransmitters and hormones. These biochemical messengers, while silent and unseen, play a central role in our decision-making processes.

An Imbalanced Biochemical Influence

Let’s reconsider this scenario with a vital piece of additional information: You have a significant family history of depression. Despite leading a seemingly healthy lifestyle, you battle with a mood disorder that shapes your day-to-day experiences and decisions, often beyond your conscious control.

You wake up to the alarm, but unlike before, this morning doesn’t begin with an energized leap out of bed. Instead, the neurotransmitter imbalance associated with depression causes you to feel groggy and uninterested in starting your day. The reduced dopamine levels result in a diminished anticipation for the reward from his coffee. Even the simple decision of getting out of bed seems like a herculean task, demonstrating how mental health can profoundly impact our decision-making capabilities.

As you move towards the kitchen, you face the decision between a healthy breakfast and a donut. This time, the impaired serotonin regulation fails to effectively suppress the impulsive behavior, resulting in you reaching for the donut. Not only does this depict how our biochemistry can lead to less-than-optimal decisions, but it also underscores the role of our mental state in the choices we make.

During the workday, the decisions you face seem daunting. The low levels of serotonin and dopamine make even minor tasks seem like massive hurdles. The reduced serotonin diminishes your mood, while the low dopamine levels affect your motivation. Even a simple problem feels like a mountain unable to be climbed.

The stress and frustration from your coworker’s missed deadline trigger an overwhelming emotional response. The surge in glutamate isn’t balanced by sufficient GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid), a neurotransmitter responsible for calming the nervous system. This imbalance intensifies your emotions, causing the anger to spill over into your response.

Finally, the decision of whether to work late or spend time with your family presents itself. The high cortisol levels, a consequence of chronic stress often associated with depression, push you towards staying late to avoid the anxiety of pending tasks. The low oxytocin levels, on the other hand, weaken the pull towards social bonding. The day, filled with stressful decisions, ends with you staying late at work, driven by the heightened stress response.

Understanding the Biochemistry

By contrasting these two scenarios, it becomes evident how our biochemical state can dramatically impact our decision-making. While we may or may not possess the ability to make choices freely, this capacity is inherently tied to our biological state. Understanding this deeply rooted connection between our biochemistry and our decisions is key to unraveling the true nature of our identity. The chemical messengers within us, both neurotransmitters and hormones, are silent influencers, nudging our decisions in one direction or another.

I will quote Viktor Frankl once again,

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

Recognizing the biochemical influences on our decisions allows us to better comprehend why we make the choices we do. It invites us to consider not just the ‘what’ but the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of our behaviors.

In the above story, you personal agency is exercised within the bounds set by your biochemistry. As we understand more about these biochemical underpinnings, we can see that our concept of ‘freedom of choice’ requires some reevaluation. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have control over our decisions, but rather that our decisions are part of a complex system of interactions between our environment, experiences, and biochemistry.

Through the lens of neurobiology, we can see that our choices aren’t entirely free of influences, they’re guided and shaped by a myriad of chemicals within us. Recognizing this doesn’t restrict our freedom; instead, it allows us to understand it better. Our choices are not made in isolation; they are a result of numerous factors. Understanding this complexity can enhance our perspective, helping us to navigate our decisions with greater awareness and compassion towards ourselves and others.

As the ancient Greeks began to understand, behavior influences health and decisions. We are products of our biology and our environment, intertwined in a delicate balance. Embrace this understanding, and let it guide you towards a deeper comprehension of your actions and decisions, building a more insightful and empathetic approach to life.