Well, social interaction does, anyway. A study released by the Ohio State University, Study: A Little Help From Friends Makes Wounds Heal Faster (via Science Blog), looked at how social contact affected healing in stressed hamsters. As you know, there are many parallels between stressed hamsters and your average blogger. In all seriousness, I wonder if all forms of social contact, even remote social contact (ala blogging), has the same effect?

"Stress delays wound healing in humans and other animals, and social contact helps counteract this delay," said Courtney DeVries, the study's lead author and an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Ohio State University.

So, to confirm these results, in the name of science, I need a few volunteers. The requirements for participating in the new study are thus:

• You must be an active blogger.
• You must be willing to accept a small wound on the back of your neck and leave it untreated for several weeks.
• You must be willing to be confined to a small Plexiglas tube for two hours a day for up to 14 consecutive days (other studies have shown that such confinement causes stress).
• You may not be allowed to write to your blog during the term of the study.
• Some of you may have your adrenal glands surgically removed.

Please leave a comment if you are interested in particpating.