Soma_Surface

This function computes the surface of the soma (Type=1). If the soma is composed of just one compartment, then it uses the sphere assumption, otherwise it returns the sum of the external cylindrical surfaces of compartments forming the soma. There can be multiple soma's, one soma or no soma at all.

Function Output Type : Real

Calculated : At each each soma point

Returns a value : For each soma part of the arbor

Output:

Results with Single Soma.

Metric	Total_Sum	#Compartments (considered)	#Compartments (discarded)	Minimum	Average	Maximum	S.D.
Soma_Surface	387.775	1	(1101)	387.775	387.775	387.775	0

*All units are in microns

Values to consider : All

Output Interpretation :

Soma_Surface is computed with the help of two mathematical formulas.
For single soma: 4*(pi)*(r^2).

For just one soma compartment, the Total_Sum, minimum, average and maximum values are all the same. If the soma consists of more than one compartment, then the correct value of the surface of the soma would be returned under Total_Sum.

The single point spherical soma is converted to three point cylindrical approximation. The surface area of this soma cylinder equals the surface area of a sphere of radius r, where the height of the cylinder equals radius of the spehere. For more details on soma format click here

References :

This function is applicable to only Soma Points (Type = 1).