Nature Reviews Neuroscience

Whalley, Katherine

doi: 10.1038/nrn2723pmid: N/A

Welberg, Leonie

doi: 10.1038/nrn2724pmid: N/A

doi: 10.1038/nrn2727pmid: N/A

Wiedemann, Claudia

doi: 10.1038/nrn2728pmid: N/A

doi: 10.1038/nrn2731pmid: N/A

Wiedemann, Claudia

doi: 10.1038/nrn2729pmid: N/A

Whalley, Katherine

doi: 10.1038/nrn2718pmid: N/A

Ryan, Tomás J.; Grant, Seth G. N.

doi: 10.1038/nrn2717pmid: 19738623

The molecular composition of the synapse has recently been proved to be useful for studying the evolution of the brain. Synapse proteomics data sets, such as those of the postsynaptic density (PSD) and associated protein complexes when combined with comparative genomics have provided unprecedented insights into the evolution of synapses. The PSD that is found in organisms with nervous systems has evolved from an ancient protosynaptic core that exists in unicellular organisms and multicellular organisms without nervous systems. Comparisons of vertebrate PSD and synaptogenesis genes with orthologues from sponges and cnidarians open an avenue for speculating as to what may have contributed to the origin of the first synapse. Comparative proteomics has shown that vertebrate excitatory synapses have evolved to be significantly more complex than invertebrates.