Stroke-related aphasias mistaken for psychotic speech: two case reports

A large portion of the human central nervous system is dedicated to and specialized for language function. Aphasias, disorders of language, can be seen in many psychiatric and neurologic conditions. On occasion, it is difficult to differentiate between language abnormalities secondary to a patient's psychiatric illness and those secondary to a superimposed neurologic condition. In particular, in the evaluation of a patient with a history of a psychotic illness, it is easy to misinterpret the presentation of "abnormal" speech as an exacerbation of the patient's pre-existing psychiatric illness. To show this psychoneurologic comorbidity, two case reports are presented.