Brain Change Basics

Dementia is not stubbornness or bad behavior. It is a brain that is slowly losing the wiring it once relied on. When words, memory, and reasoning fade, behavior becomes the language. Your loved one is still in there, doing the best they can with the brain they have today.

• They insist something happened that didn't, or deny something that did.
• Short-term memory often fades first; feelings and music linger longest.
• Logic and reasoning are unreliable, emotional connection still works.
• Each day, even each hour, can look different. That is the disease, not them.

• They ask the same question minutes apart.
• They insist something happened that didn't, or deny something that did.
• They get upset over things that used to be easy.
• They seem 'fine' one moment and lost the next.

• Pause before correcting. Ask yourself: does being right matter here?
• Match their feeling first: "That sounds frustrating. I'm right here with you."
• Use short sentences. One idea at a time.
• When in doubt, lower your voice and slow your body down.