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Review Paper | Psychology | Volume 15 Issue 7, July 2026 | Pages: 2217 - 2222 | India
Where Neurology Meets Psychiatry: Exploring Rare Neuropsychiatric Syndromes and their Diagnostic Challenges: A Review of Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis, Capgras Syndrome, Cotard's Syndrome, and Charles Bonnet Syndrome
Abstract: Neurology and psychiatry, though historically treated as separate disciplines, converge sharply in a group of rare syndromes whose symptoms sit uneasily between the two fields. This paper examines four such conditions - anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, Capgras syndrome, Cotard's syndrome, and Charles Bonnet syndrome- as a spectrum illustrating how disrupted neural circuitry can produce presentations that are readily mistaken for primary psychiatric illness. Drawing on published case reports, this review traces each syndrome's clinical presentation, proposed neurobiological mechanism, and pattern of misdiagnosis, then draws comparisons across the four to identify shared diagnostic pitfalls. The paper argues that these syndromes are not isolated curiosities but points along a continuum- from clear autoimmune pathology, to delusions with plausible neuroanatomical explanations, to hallucinations with fully preserved insight- and that recognizing this continuum has direct implications for clinical practice, particularly the need for closer collaboration between neurology and psychiatry in diagnostic workups.
Keywords: Neuropsychiatry, Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, Capgras syndrome, Cotard's syndrome, Charles Bonnet syndrome, Autoimmune encephalitis, Delusional misidentification, Visual hallucinations, Differential diagnosis
How to Cite?: Vaishnavi S Sanghed, "Where Neurology Meets Psychiatry: Exploring Rare Neuropsychiatric Syndromes and their Diagnostic Challenges: A Review of Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis, Capgras Syndrome, Cotard's Syndrome, and Charles Bonnet Syndrome", Volume 15 Issue 7, July 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 2217-2222, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26726204926, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26726204926