Environmental Neuroethics: Setting the Agenda LY Cabrera1,2, J Tesluk1,3, M Chakraborti1, R Matthews3, J Illes1

1National Core for Neuroethics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada 2 Centre for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

3 Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Technological advances, new industries, economic expansion

and population growth are profoundly affecting humans.

Substantial research exists both on the benefits of innovation

and on the health risks of environmental change such as

cancer and respiratory disease.

Introduction

Safety and non-maleficence are the prominent ethics themes in a

limited literature on brain and mental health implications of fracking.

We view this as an important knowledge gap and respond with a

framework for future work.

Discussion

• Illes, J., Davidson, J. & Matthews, R., 2014. Journal of Law and the Biosciences 1(2): 221-223. doi:10.1093/jlb/lsu015

• Cabrera, L.Y., Tesluk, J., Chakraborti, M. Matthews, R. & llles, J. Environmental Health (under review)

Disclosures: None

Methods

Google Scholar search of peer reviewed and gray literature

using terms related to UGD and fracking paired with the key

relevant terms ‘environment’ ‘brain’ and ‘mental health’.

Secondary terms were ‘Canada’, ‘culture’, ‘first nations’, ‘ethic’,

and ‘solastalgia’.

Aims

To characterize the literature on fracking in the context of brain

and mental health and related discourse on ethics, society, law,

and policy.

Results

Knowledge

Development

Fund

PHASE 1

PHASE 2

PHASE 3

PHASE 2: Brain and Mental

Health Themes

PHASE 1: Broad Themes

PHASE 3: Ethics Content

Qualitative content analysis to identify the extent and context

of brain and mental health discussion in the sample.

N=106

Here we examine contemporary considerations

of neurological and mental health and related

ethical and social issues using unconventional

gas development (UGD) and hydraulic fracturing

(fracking) as a case study.

To deliver a neuroethics framework for future

systematic analysis of the ethical and social

implications of environmental change on brain and

mental health.

Framework for Environmental Neuroethics Brain science and the environment

Neuroscience discovery that is aligned with the measurement and evaluation of factors

that affect the way individuals, communities and society adapt and cope with real or perceived environmental threats.

The relational self and the environment

The interface between the environment and brain, and the mechanisms by which

exposures at key points in life may mediate different brain and mental effects;

relationships with different environmental stressors, individual susceptibility and resilience.

Cross-cultural

factors and the

environment

Exploration of the role of culture in the relationship between environment and brain and

mental health; interactions between Traditional Ecological Knowledge and

neuroscience evidence.

Social policy and the environment

Priorities and allocation of resources of local social organizations to deal with environmental impacts on brain and mental health.

Public discourse and the environment

The engagement of professional disciplines and communities in multidirectional

communication and discourse about neurological, psychological, sociological and ethical dimensions of environmental change.

* Top five categories

*Terms such as trust, vulnerability, justice,

disempowerment, precautionary principle