Pal Barzo

eLife Assessment This important study compares the cortical projections to primary motor and sensory areas originating from the ipsilateral and contralateral hemispheres. Results show that, while there is substantial symmetry between the two hemispheres regarding the areas sending projections to these primary cortical areas, contra-hemispheric projections had more inputs from layer 6 neurons than ipsi-projecting ones.

eLife Assessment In this revised work, Barzó et al. assessed the electrophysiological and anatomical properties of a large number of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in brain slices of human neocortex across a wide range of ages, from infancy to elderly individuals, using whole-cell patch clamp recordings and anatomical reconstructions.

Abstract The basic excitatory neurons of the cerebral cortex, the pyramidal cells, are the most important signal integrators for the local circuit. They have quite characteristic morphological and electrophysiological properties that are known to be largely constant with age in the young and adult cortex. However, the brain undergoes several dynamic changes throughout life, such as in the phases of early development and cognitive decline in the aging brain.