Severe aphasia, adult left hemispherectomy, Gilles de la Tourette syndrome
(GTS), and other neurological disorders have in common an increased use of
swearwords. There are shared linguistic features in common across these lan
guage behaviors, as well as important differences. We explore the nature of
swearing in normal human communication, and then compare the clinical pres
entations of selectively preserved, impaired and augmented swearing. These
neurolinguistic observations, considered along with related neuroanatomical
and neurochemical information, provide the basis for considering the neuro
biological foundation of various types of swearing behaviors, (C) 1999 Else
vier Science B.V. All rights reserved.