ABSTRACT
An accurate understanding of behavioural change in dementia requires good knowledge of the neurology of the causes of dementia and the impact on brain function. An aspect of brain damage often overlooked in dementia is that the damaged brain continues to be active and to operate according to the same principles as the healthy brain, albeit at a lower level. Education about the brain and behaviour in dementia care can promote acceptance and tolerance with regard to some forms of difficult behaviour because people come to understand that the behaviour is beyond the person’s control. The available evidence, however, overwhelmingly shows that the prime causes of dementia are organic in nature. Progress in dementia care requires that the organic basis of the condition be accepted without a collapse into therapeutic nihilism. The neurological element has a difficult history within the understanding of behaviour in dementia.
