University of B.C. researchers are working with Indigenous scholars and communities to bring Indigenous perspectives into brain science hoping to open up new pathways for treating mental health and neurological conditions that are centered on collaboration, respect and self-determination.
In a paper published this week in Nature, Dr. Judy Illes, professor of neurology in UBC's faculty of medicine and director of Neuroethics Canada, and Dr. Melissa Perreault, a member of the Métis Nation and an associate professor at the University of Guelph, explore approaches to integrating Indigenous knowledge with Western approaches in neuroscience. The paper is a product of the Crosscultural Working Group of the International Brain Initiative. It was also informed, in part, by the work of former UBC graduate student, Louise Harding.