Fig. 2: Cell–cell communication in the developing human neocortex.

a, Spatial transcriptomic analysis of six neocortical samples. Cells are colour coded by types or the niches to which they belong. b, The proportion of different cell types in individual niches. Niche numbers correspond to the legend in a. c, The neighbourhood enrichment scores of the PFC sample at infancy. The row and column annotations are colour coded by cell types as defined a. d, The percentage of significant intercellular communication determined by NCEM identified across all datasets. The row and column annotations are colour coded by cell types, as defined in a. e, The direction of cellular interactions mediated by neuregulin signalling (left). Right, the communication probability of example ligand–receptor pairs in the neuregulin signalling pathway from EN-IT-immature to other cell types. Empty space means that the communication probability is zero. P values were calculated using one-sided permutation tests. f, The direction of cellular interactions mediated by somatostatin signalling (left). Right, the communication probability of example ligand–receptor pairs in the somatostatin signalling pathway from IN-MGE-SST to other cell types. Empty space means that the communication probability is zero. P values were calculated using one-sided permutation tests.