This page provides detailed definitions (and demonstrations) for all morphometric functions of L-Measure.
The following brief Introduction to Basic
Terminology and Data Structures is helpful to parse the individual
functions
with reference to the schematic diagram of a neuron:
Compartment: Is the smallest structural unit. A compartment corresponds to the cylinder between two consecutive tracing points, and can be represented by the 3D coordinates of its starting and ending points, and its diameter. Examples of functions at the compartment level: Diameter, length, Volume, etc.,
Branch: A branch is the portion of a tree between the soma and the first bifurcation, between two bifurcations, or between a bifurcation and a termination point. A branch is typically composed of a number of compartments. Examples of functions at the branch level: N_branch, Branch_Order, Branch_pathlength, etc.,
Bifurcation: A Bifucation is a 'Y' shaped split in the arborization, and has one parent and (in binary trees) two daughters. Examples of functions at the bifurcation level: Bif_torque_local, Bif_torque_remote, Bif_tilt_local, Parent_daughter_Ratio, Daughter_Ratio, Pk, Rall_power etc.,
Soma: Is represented as a Sphere or as set of compartments depending on the file format. Whenever the Compartment level/Bifurcation level/Branch level functions are computed, the compartments constituting the soma are not considered. Example of function: Soma_surface
HOW TO USE
Experienced users will combine a number of morphometric functions to
extract meaningful measures. For example,
combination of N_branch, Euclidean distance, and diameter could result
in a series of Sholl plots, each for a given value of branch thickness.