Study finds swearing can be beneficial

NEWCASTLE, England, July 12 (UPI) -- People in pain should try swearing, researchers at Britain's Keele University say.

Keele University said in a release Sunday that school of psychology researchers Richard Stephens, John Atkins and Andrew Kingston had 64 undergraduate volunteers place their hands in ice water, once while swearing repeatedly and once while repeating a commonplace word.

"It taps into emotional brain centers and appears to arise in the right brain, whereas most language production occurs in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain," Stephens said of swearing.

The researchers said in their NeuroReport study that when repeating a profanity, volunteers were able to keep their hands in the chilly water longer than when using a commonplace word. Specific details of the finding were not reported by the university.

The research team suggested the findings were the result of swearing triggering a physical response in the volunteers, accelerating their heart rates and allowing them to better deal with the uncomfortable situation.