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We reduce Dirac's spinor formalism for a spin 1/2 particle to a complex wavefunction description in curved spacetimes. We consider a localized fermionic particle in curved spacetimes and perform an expansion in terms of the acceleration and curvature around the center of mass of the system, generalizing the results of Parker (1980 Phys. Rev. Lett. 44 1559), Parker (1980 Phys. Rev. D 22 1922–1934). Under a non-relativistic approximation, one obtains a quantum description in a Hilbert space of complex wavefunctions defined in the rest space of the system. The wavefunction of the particle then evolves according to a modified Schrödinger equation associated with a symmetric Hamiltonian. When compared to the standard Schrödinger equation for a wavefunction, we obtain corrections in terms of the acceleration of the system's center of mass and curvature of spacetime along its trajectory. In summary, we provide a formalism for the use of a complex wavefunction to describe a localized quantum particle in curved spacetimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]