New research has found that it is not simply size or the number of neurons that drives the brain power. Rather, it is the increase in number and complexity of synapse proteins that account for more sophisticated thought.

The study shows that two leaps in sophistication in the structure of nerve junctions could have been the driving force that allowed complex brains to evolve, and that this occurred before brains significantly increased in size. The first major wave of change happened around a billion years ago, when the first multicelled organisms appeared. Then the next wave happened when vertebrates came along, around 500 million years ago.

(via physorg.com)

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