Spatial transcriptomics reveals human cortical layer and area specification

Abstract The human cerebral cortex is composed of six layers and dozens of areas that are molecularly and structurally distinct 1–4 . Although single-cell transcriptomic studies have advanced the molecular characterization of human cortical development, a substantial gap exists owing to the loss of spatial context during cell dissociation 5–8 . Here we used multiplexed error-robust fluorescence in situ hybridization (MERFISH) 9 , augmented with deep-learning-based nucleus segmentation, to examine the molecular, cellular and cytoarchitectural development of the human fetal cortex with spatially resolved single-cell resolution. Our extensive spatial atlas, encompassing more than 18 million single cells, spans…