Definately. Sometimes it is overt like a temper tantrum and sometimes it is sneaky. My mom had a problem for a while that dad would grab her in bed leaving bruises or kick her. He always denied it but when she said something he would stop for a while.

My guess is that as more of the brain dies the person loses more of the executive portion that controls appropriate behavior. The is also the cause of inappropriate sexual comments and outbursts.

The most important thing is to protect yourself. Sometimes medication can help or if necessary a change in living arrangements.

Thanks for the information. He won't take medication and claims he has an iron tight memory. At this point, I'm making the decision to just walk away. If I'm dead I can't help him anyhow. The guilt is running me crazy, but I'm no longer having blood pressure issues.

My mother doesn't necessarily get physically violent, but she will scream like a banshee until she turns blue. She's been taking seroquel, so her tantrums have been less frequent and less harsh.

The location of the atrophy decides the behavior affected by the disease. My mother has frontotemporal atrophy, particularly in the right hemisphere, and that greatly decreases her ability to provide empathy and reasoning with her actions. The brain is highly specialized, so damaging one portion of it can have very specific results. You also need to realize that when one portion is damaged, other portions will tend to compensate for the loss (much like how people who become blind become more apt with auditory cues). This may tend to amplify other behaviors (hypersexuality, obsessive compulsiveness, etc).

Yes. He's grabbed me. Called me the N word, and threatened to kill me.

So, in other words, I'm adding to the question I asked. This happened just today. It never ends.

My dad (85) just recently started making a fist and gesturing like he's going to hit people with it, with a smile on his face. He actually contacts with me, but gently...for now. I've made a habit of saying, that's not nice! whenever he makes a fist...no smile on my face, I am serious. I'm trying to get the staff to be consistent, but they laugh it off. I think, underneath it all, he could hit someone. He did hit us when I was a kid so I know he has it in him. For now, I'm trying the consistent reinforcement that this is NOT okay to do.