Swearing

I am post happy this morning. Not only did I do the training yesterday that has been keeping me swamped, but I stayed up past midnight (6th night in a row) to finish some dance work (needed to charge all of the customers for costume fees that were due Nov 1st, not the best timing since I wanted to come home from the training and veg!).

My friend Kari's blog recently went private, but she always has great posts, so I commented to her today that I am just going to have to copy and paste her info in my blog. She did some research on swearing and it's connection to the brain. Here is what she came up with:

Many studies suggest that the brain processes swearing in the lower regions, along with emotion and instinct. Scientists theorize that instead of processing a swearword as a series of phonemes, or units of sound that must be combined to form a word, the brain stores swear words as whole units [ref]. So, the brain doesn’t need the left hemisphere’s help to process them. Swearing specifically involves:

• The limbic system, which also houses memory, emotion and basic behavior. The limbic system also seems to govern vocalizations in primates and other animals, and some researchers have interpreted some primate vocalizations as swearing.
• The basal ganglia, which play a large role in impulse control and motor functions.

Swearing is connected to the limbic system and basal ganglia, located in the interior of the brain.

Interesting, don't you think? Living with a child who swears like a sailor, is no fun. I have gotten use to it, but it still drives me crazy!!! I work really hard to try and not focus on the behavior and to not react to it, and understanding this helps me with my patience. Gosh, alcohol does a real number on the brain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!