At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of thousands of articles published each year, it’s impossible to cover all of them. Here are just five amazing papers you may have missed.

Newly discovered skeletons fill gaps in evolutionary history of water dinosaurs

Between approximately 66 and 252 million years ago, many species of water-dwelling dinosaurs, also known as plesiosaurs, lived across the planet in a variety of ecological niches. A transition event, happening probably between 175 and 171 million years ago, affected all major linages of plesiosaurs, causing some to disappear, while others diversified.

Until recently, this transition was not well understood, as fossils of plesiosaurs are rare. Now, writing in Frontiers in Earth Science, a team of researchers in Germany and Poland have described two exceptionally well-preserved plesiosaur fossils found in northern Bavaria, Germany that represent a new taxon of plesiosauroid, Franconiasaurus brevispinus. This representative of the species lived on the onset of the Early–Middle Jurassic turnover.

Displaying both features of earlier plesiosaurs and those observed in later periods, the new taxon bridges an evolutionary gap between early and later representatives of the clade, the researchers wrote.

Article link: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2024.1341470/full

The spiders we fear are hairy and thick

People who are afraid of certain animals typically fear all representatives of a species, even when they look different. However, in the case of spiders, for some it seems certain features can make certain spiders appear more – or less – scary.

Researchers in Italy recently designed a study to identify which features make spiders scary to people with varying levels of arachnophobia. In an augmented reality setting, they asked participants to ‘design’ spiders that looks either dangerous or harmless. They published their results in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.

Their results showed that spiders that were hairy, thick, and used typical spider-like movement patterns were perceived to be scarier than spiders that had no hair, were thinner, and employed butterfly-like (flying) movement patterns. While these results may advance knowledge of phobic preferences, they cannot fully describe the complex relationship between perceptual preferences and arachnophobia symptoms, the researchers pointed out.

Article link: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1355879/full

Getting a dog often comes with surprises for new pet owners

Dog ownership brings joy and purpose to many people; nevertheless, more than 130,000 dogs are cared for by rescue organizations each year in the UK. Part of the reason why dogs are placed in care may be pre-ownership expectations that are not met once the dog is at home.

Recently, writing in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, UK-based researchers surveyed UK dog owners about the surprises they experienced after getting a dog.

While dog ownership often was like owners had expected, there were areas with large discrepancies between expectation and reality. These included higher-than-expected vet costs (52%), the cost of buying or re-homing (33%), and the amount of patience needed (25%). The researchers said that their findings can help manage new owner’s expectations before getting a dog and help reduce the likeliness of negative outcomes for both dogs and owners.

Article link: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1331793/full

The program we watch could influence how we respond to ads

When we watch the same TV ad twice, our reaction to its contents may vary depending on the circumstances. Understanding what grabs consumer’s attention – and what retains it – in different contexts is important in the highly competitive advertising industry.

In a new Frontiers in Psychology article, researchers in Italy investigated how the content of a program watched before the advertising break impacted how ads were perceived. They used brain analysis, heart rate measurements, skin conductance detection, and self-reports to examine the effects.

They found that if individuals are positively engaged while they watch the program, they also are positively engaged while they watch the ads. If the program is watched attentively and memorized well, the same is true for the advertisement. Vice versa, low attention, memorization, or emotional activation had a negative impact on ad consumption.

Article link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1266906/full

Gamified tasks in a virtual environment can help stroke survivors regain control over their upper limbs

In stroke survivors, paralysis of one side of the body is common. Through specific post-stroke interventions, such as motor function and mobility treatments, rehabilitation is feasible, but constant stimulation of the affected body parts is necessary.

Now, writing in Frontiers in Neurology, researchers in Italy have tested the effect of gamified tasks in a virtual environment that aim to stimulate and maintain motor function of the upper limbs.

The tasks offer a unilateral and a bilateral mode. Difficulty can be configured according to patient needs. The two-week trial included six sessions at the end of which the researchers observed positive results for all participants in upper limb motor performance, including improved shoulder joint mobility, posture, and balance. The authors noted, however, that their results are based on a preliminary study, and that a generalization of their findings is not yet possible.

Article link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2024.1347755/full

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