🌟[TT] Why 🧠

You may have seen recent news about the Epstein files, released by the US Department of Justice.

I was saddened and disappointed to see medical doctors among those named in the files, including a well known figure in the longevity space whose work I had followed.

Part of what troubled me was the disconnect. Here was someone who publicly championed transparency, who spoke about not accepting sponsorships, who built trust with millions of followers. Yet his private communications told a different story.

Since the news broke, there has also been wider scrutiny of the gap between clinical experience and the health claims being made.

As medical professionals, we hold a position of trust. People come to us at their most vulnerable.

With that comes a duty: to protect, to advocate, and to hold ourselves to the standards we set publicly.

There’s a saying, often attributed to Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.”

It reminded me why advocacy matters, and why staying silent when we see wrongdoing has a cost, not just morally, but for our health too.

Advocacy has been a thread running through my career. From spending six months providing medical care in the jungles of Ecuador in my early twenties, to working with health charities like Visual Snow Initiative and IIH UK more recently, and with patients in my clinic room.

And something became clear along the way: the information that could help prevent illness often wasn’t reaching people early enough.

I’d see patients with conditions that might have been prevented, or caught earlier, if they’d had access to the right information sooner. That’s what led me to share what I learn from my clinics and research more publicly, through these Thursday Tips, my books, and my health talks.

Because advocacy isn’t only about speaking up when things go wrong. It’s also about sharing knowledge that could make a difference before things go wrong.

Which brings me to today’s Thursday Tips… as it turns out that doing good for others is also good for your brain (and not that you need that as a motivation anyway, right?☺️)

📍3 Ways Advocacy and Altruism Support Your Brain Health

[1] Speak Up for Someone This Week

Advocacy doesn’t have to be grand. It could be checking in on a colleague who seems overwhelmed. Raising a concern about fairness at work. Amplifying someone’s idea in a meeting when they’ve been talked over.

Even small acts of standing up for others activate your brain’s reward circuits and are thought to engage oxytocin‑linked systems involved in trust and social bonding.

Your brain rewards you for looking out for others.

Like a gym workout for your social brain! Each small act strengthens the neural pathways that support empathy and connection!

Try this: This week, notice one moment where someone could use support, and if you can, could you act on it?

[2] Channel Moral Discomfort into Constructive Action

That feeling of sadness or disappointment when we learn about injustice? It’s actually your brain’s empathy and moral cognition systems working well. Your anterior cingulate cortex and insula are doing their job.

But sitting with moral distress without taking action can tip into chronic stress and rumination.

Convert that energy into something constructive! E.g. write to your MP, donate to a relevant charity, share accurate information. All this can give your prefrontal cortex a “purpose channel.”

It’s like redirecting water… the same energy that could erode a riverbank, when channelled well, can power a mill.

Try this: Next time you feel moral outrage from the news, take a moment to consider one constructive action, however small.

[3] Give Without Expecting Return

You might remember my [TT] on Donating, posted on 4/12/25, where I shared how giving activates the same reward centres in your brain as receiving.

Interestingly, a study found that on days when people engaged in prosocial behaviour, the negative effects of stress on their mood and mental health were significantly buffered.

It’s as if altruism is a shock absorber for your brain’s stress response!

This doesn’t have to involve money. Offering your time, sharing your expertise, or simply being present for someone who needs it all count.

Try this: Do one thing this week for someone else with no expectation of anything in return. It could be offering to help a neighbour, mentoring someone junior at work, volunteering your skills, or even sharing a piece of reliable health information with someone who might benefit (umm… maybe sharing this newsletter? 🤣)

📍Why Altruism and Advocacy Support Your Brain

When you act for the benefit of others, several things happen in your brain:

Your mesolimbic reward system lights up. Brain imaging studies show that charitable and altruistic decisions activate the same dopamine-rich reward pathways as receiving money.

Your brain’s reward system responds to giving in a similar way to how it responds when you receive something yourself. Both feel rewarding.

Prosocial behaviour appears to buffer stress at a biological level.

Helping others is linked with oxytocin‑related and parasympathetic (‘rest‑and‑recover’) processes that can calm the stress response.

This is significant because chronic stress is one of the most well-established risk factors for cognitive decline.

Prosocial values may protect brain health by reducing chronic stress through multiple ways, that include immune (remember last week’s TT ☺️) and inflammatory pathways.

In other words, doing good for others may also be doing good for your neurons.

📍Question for you today

Which of these three forms of advocacy or altruism appeals to you most: speaking up, channelling action, or giving without return?

Wishing you the warmth of purposeful action,

Dr Sui Wong

PS – I have a mission to inspire a movement for better brain health through practical, evidence-based tips that are encouraging and sustainable. Because better brain health supports better wellbeing, and better wellbeing creates a ripple effect that benefits individuals, families, communities, and beyond.

Given today’s topic about trust in health information, I thought it fair to share my background for those who are new to this community. My day job is as a Neurologist and Neuro-Ophthalmologist with additional qualifications in Lifestyle Medicine (DipIBLM). I’ve been practising as a medical doctor since 2000, with qualifications including MBBS (medical school), FRCP (postgraduate internal medicine), specialist training in Neurology (CCT) and Neuro-Ophthalmology (Fellowship), Masters in Clinical Education (MA), a postgraduate Neuroscience Research degree (MD), and I continue to publish peer-reviewed academic work for research rigour. In 26 years (and counting) of clinical practice, I have cared for over 60,000 to 70,000 patients (likely more but better to underestimate than overestimate, and yes, we NHS doctors do get a bit exhausted with the work volume! 🤣). I share this so that you know the tips I translate come from a combination of clinical expertise and research skills.

My mission is to translate what I see in my clinics and in neuroscience research into practical tips to help you look after your brain health. And that’s what these Thursday Tips are all about.

References:

• Lazar & Eisenberger (2022) “The benefits of giving: effects of prosocial behavior on recovery from stress.” Psychophysiology, 59(2), e13954 – https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13954
• Ibanez et al (2023) “Can prosocial values improve brain health?” Frontiers in Neurology, 14, 1202173. – https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2023.1202173
• Moll et al (2006) “Human fronto-mesolimbic networks guide decisions about charitable donation.” PNAS, 103(42), 15623-15628. – https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0604475103
• Raposa et al (2016) “Prosocial behavior mitigates the negative effects of stress in everyday life.” Clinical Psychological Science, 4(4), 691-698. – https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702615611073

FAQ

• Q1: How does helping others benefit the brain? Acts of advocacy and altruism activate reward pathways and release oxytocin, which supports emotional regulation and reduces stress.

• Q2: Can advocacy reduce stress? Yes. Channelling moral concern into constructive action can lower cortisol and reduce rumination.

• Q3: Does altruism need to involve money? No. Time, attention, support, and sharing knowledge all count and can have similar brain benefits.

Summary

Advocacy and altruism support brain health by activating reward systems, strengthening social connection, and buffering the effects of stress. Speaking up for others, taking constructive action when something feels wrong, and giving without expectation all help reduce chronic stress, which is a known risk factor for cognitive decline. Purposeful action not only benefits others, it also supports emotional resilience and long-term brain wellbeing.

---

Spread the love! Share this post with someone who will enjoy my Thursday Tips [TT] newsletter.

If you received this as a forwarded link, please sign up to the [TT] newsletter via bit.ly/drwongbrainhealth

INSTAGRAM: drsuiwong.neurologist | LINKED IN: linkedin.com/in/dr-sui-wong-neurologist

My mission here is to share good quality, actionable information that empowers people to improve their brain health and wellbeing.

Thank you for your support!

---

Search

Search