Cognitive Enhancement

Abstract The majority of the global literature in psychiatry and psychology has focused on Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) regions. This chapter considers the issue of cognitive enhancement in South Africa, a low-middle income country that is arguably particularly useful when thinking about issues in psychiatry and psychology. The author discusses the issue of cognitive enhancement in a country where there is significant inequity between different groups. He considers the question of well-being and whether this should be a focus of interest in a low-middle income country. And he raises the question of whether the approach of clinical neuroscience or of global mental health is more relevant in such a country. The chapter makes the argument that it is important for neuroethics to be an international field that encourages the development of a cross-cultural neuroscience and that ultimately contributes to global mental health.