Abstract
Summary
Palilalia, a disorder of speech characterised by compulsive repetition of a phrase or word, is not a rare phenomenon but is seldom mentioned in modern literature. This paper describes two patients, mother and son, affected by palilalia. Both patients had bilateral lesions affecting the basal ganglia and the grey matter of the hemispheres. In these cases as in others described in the literature, palilalia is felt to be due to bilateral lesions and to represent the speech counterpart of other motor phenomena such as festination or chorea.