A talk by Dr François Luis Blanc

Dr François Luis Blanc will talk about his work studying shamans and healers in South America.  

François Luis Blanc is a medical doctor and associate professor in paediatrics at the University of Strasbourg, France.  He lived in Brazil from 1973 to 1980 and spent two years in the Andes teaching about infectious diseases and doing field research with students from the Medical School of Cusco, Peru.  The School´s curriculum includes community work within the Andes.  Students learn about traditional medicine in an attempt to integrate shamans and healers into the public health service.  In this talk he will explain the neurobiological basis of the healing power attributed to shamanic practices and how the psychotropic plants used in shamanic cures interfere with the neuromediators of the brain.