Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Suite 226 Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Bldg. 420, Jordan Hall, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Neuroimage. 2015 Nov 15;122:87-95. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.08.010. Epub 2015 Aug 8.
How do people value environmental resources? To estimate public valuation of natural resources, researchers often conduct surveys that ask people how much they would be willing to pay to preserve or restore threatened natural resources. However, these survey responses often elicit complex affective responses, including negative reactions toward proposed destructive land uses of those resources. To better characterize processes that underlie the valuation of environmental resources, we conducted behavioral and neuroimaging experiments in which subjects chose whether or not to donate money to protect natural park lands (iconic versus non-iconic) from proposed land uses (destructive versus non-destructive). In both studies, land use destructiveness motivated subjects' donations more powerfully than did the iconic qualities of the parks themselves. Consistent with an anticipatory affect account, nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activity increased in response to more iconic parks, while anterior insula activity increased in response to more destructive uses, and the interaction of these considerations altered activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). Further, anterior insula activity predicted increased donations to preserve parks threatened by destructive uses, but MPFC activity predicted reduced donations. Finally, individuals with stronger pro-environmental attitudes showed greater anterior insula activity in response to proposed destructive uses. These results imply that negative responses to destructive land uses may play a prominent role in environmental valuation, potentially overshadowing positive responses to the environmental resources themselves. The findings also suggest that neuroimaging methods might eventually complement traditional survey methods by allowing researchers to disentangle distinct affective responses that influence environmental valuation.
人们如何重视环境资源？为了评估公众对自然资源的估值，研究人员通常会进行调查，询问人们愿意支付多少钱来保护或恢复受到威胁的自然资源。然而，这些调查回应往往会引起复杂的情感反应，包括对这些资源提议的破坏性土地使用的负面反应。为了更好地描述影响环境资源估值的过程，我们进行了行为和神经影像学实验，实验中被试者选择是否捐款保护自然公园用地（标志性用地与非标志性用地）免受提议的土地使用（破坏性土地使用与非破坏性土地使用）。在这两项研究中，土地使用的破坏性比公园本身的标志性特征更能激发被试者的捐款意愿。与预期情感账户一致，伏隔核（NAcc）的活动随着更具标志性的公园而增加，而前岛叶的活动随着更具破坏性的用途而增加，这些考虑因素的相互作用改变了内侧前额叶皮层（MPFC）的活动。此外，前岛叶的活动预测了对受破坏性用途威胁的公园的捐款增加，但 MPFC 的活动预测了捐款减少。最后，具有更强环保态度的个体对提议的破坏性用途表现出更强的前岛叶活动。这些结果表明，对破坏性土地使用的负面反应可能在环境估值中发挥突出作用，可能会超过对环境资源本身的正面反应。研究结果还表明，神经影像学方法最终可能通过允许研究人员区分影响环境估值的不同情感反应来补充传统的调查方法。
