Montreal Gazette - Decisions: We're maxed out, say Montreal researchers

A growing number of studies are showing that making too many decisions or having too much choice can leave people weary, mentally taxed, and vulnerable to outbursts and bad decisions that they might regret.

There may be a limited number of choices the brain can handle at one time, says Lesley Fellows, a neurologist at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University who studies the neuroscience of decision making. People are usually able to hold in their minds a string of seven numbers, but not much more.

"Presumably it takes up brain power to hold onto that information and keep track of it," she says