Should individuals travel by air to coastal destinations, or use rail instead? Should they reduce meat consumption, purchase new clothing, or opt for second-hand alternatives? Individual behavior plays a critical role in mitigating climate change, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasizes that technological innovations alone are insufficient to address the crisis.

This places the brain, as the center of our decision-making, at the forefront of research. In their recent publication in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Prof. Dr. Daria Knoch and Dr. Annika Wyss of the University of Bern outline how neuroscientific methods - such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and non-invasive brain stimulation - offer a promising and innovative approach to understanding environmentally relevant decision-making.

Measuring behavior with real consequences

Much of today's knowledge about environmental behavior is based on self-reported information, intentions, and hypothetical scenarios, all of which are vulnerable to social desirability bias, recall biases, and demand effects. "When asked hypothetically whether they want to live in an environmentally friendly way, most people say they do because that is what many people actually intend to do," says Annika Wyss. Thus, as the authors explain, decisions made during the study of environmental behavior must have real consequences.

As the authors explain, it is crucial that the decisions made during the study of environmental behaviour have real consequences. Since sustainable behaviour often comes at a higher price, this means that test subjects in a study with real resources will have different amounts of money left to take home after the experiment, depending on their decisions.

Insights from Combined Methods

Neuroscientific methods enable the objective study of environmental decisions that carry real consequences. More specifically, technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) can allow researchers to observe neural activity during environmental decision-making. As Daria Knoch explains, “Because we know which brain regions are associated with specific functions and how these regions interact within neural networks, we can draw conclusions about the processes and mechanisms underlying decisions related to sustainable behavior.” This emerging research approach, highlighted by Knoch and Wyss, is referred to in the scientific community as environmental decision neuroscience.

Three Core Mechanisms in Environmental Behavior

Three key mechanisms underlying sustainable behavior have been identified: the subjective value attributed to a decision, the ability to adopt others' or future generations' perspectives, and the capacity for self-control.

• Individuals who behave sustainably tend to prioritize environmentally friendly options, even when these options are more costly or less convenient. In such cases, brain regions including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the nucleus accumbens are activated. These regions are associated with the representation of subjective value attributed to different decision options.
• Perspective-taking also plays a significant role. As Annika Wyss notes, “Individuals who are better able to empathize with future victims of climate change tend to behave more sustainably.” Neurologically, this process involves activation in the temporoparietal junction and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. These regions are involved in theory-of-mind processes and social cognition, which facilitate understanding the thoughts and experiences of others.
• A third mechanism is the capacity for self-control. Acting in an environmentally responsible manner frequently requires individuals to forgo short-term benefits, such as lower costs or convenience, in favor of long-term and often abstract goals, such as reducing CO₂ emissions over the coming decades. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is particularly associated with this regulatory process.

The Complexity of Changing Environmental Behavior

Numerous measures can be implemented to promote sustainable behavior. However, according to the researchers, the effectiveness of such measures depends heavily on contextual factors and individual differences in the three core mechanisms described above.

The authors conclude: “To maximize the effectiveness of behavioral interventions, research must move beyond determining whether such interventions work and instead examine how, for whom, and under which conditions they are effective. A deeper understanding of the neural processes underlying environmental decision-making may be key to achieving this goal.”