Moran's I

Moran's I measures spatial autocorrelation—whether cells of the same type cluster together or are dispersed in space.

Computation Flow

Interpretation Decision Tree

Interpretation

Value	Meaning	Biological Example
> 0.5	Strong clustering	Epithelial sheets, tumor nests
0.1–0.5	Moderate clustering	Fibroblast networks
≈ 0	Random	Well-mixed immune infiltrate
< 0	Dispersion	Patrolling immune cells

Statistical Significance

The z-score indicates whether the observed Moran's I is significantly different from random:

• |z| > 2.58: Significant at p < 0.01
• |z| > 1.96: Significant at p < 0.05
• |z| < 1.96: Not significant