What is the difference between gray and white matter

Differences between Gray and White Matter What is gray matter? What is white matter? Is it really that simple? Gray matter also contains: Axon tracts Glial cells Capillary blood vessels Neuropil — a mix of dendrites, unmyelinated axons, and glia White matter also contains: Oligodendrocytes — glial cells which produce myelin Astrocytes How are gray matter and white matter arranged in the CNS?

Both gray and white matter are spread throughout the human central nervous system — the brain and spinal cord. The front part, which is sometimes called the ventral gray horn, sends descending nerve signals governing motor activities to your autonomic nerves. A problem with the dorsal gray horn may affect your brain's ability to interpret sensory information, while issues with the ventral gray horn interfere with your body's ability to receive motor information; paralysis, tingling, and muscle weakness are often the products of damage to the ventral gray horn.

The white matter of your brain and spinal cord is composed of bundles of axons. These axons are coated with myelin, a mixture of proteins and lipids, that helps conduct nerve signals and protect the axons. White matter's job is to conduct, process, and send nerve signals up and down the spinal cord. Damage to the white matter of your brain or spinal cord can affect your ability to move, use your sensory faculties, or react appropriately to external stimuli.

Some people with damaged white matter suffer deficits in reflexive reactions. Together, the gray and white matter of your brain and spinal cord help form spinal tracts. These pathways send nerve signals from your brain to the rest of your body.

Knowing the most common tracts can help you discern the source of your injury. Those tracts include:. Remember, being an informed patient can help you ask intelligent questions and select the best treatment options, so if you don't understand what your doctor tells you about gray or white matter in the brain, don't be afraid to speak up. Grey Matter: Grey matter has fewer myelinated axons. White Matter: White matter gets its light colour due to the lipid components of the myelin.

Grey Matter: Grey matter gets its pinkish-grey colour due to the neuronal cell bodies and the capillary blood vessels. White Matter: The nerve cells in the white matter contain long axons. Grey Matter: The nerve cells in the grey matter contain short axons. White Matter: In the brain, white matter occurs in the cortex. Grey Matter: In the brain, grey matter occurs on the surface areas. White Matter: White matter occurs on the surface of the spinal cord. Grey Matter: Grey matter occurs inside the spinal cord.

White Matter: The highest development of the white matter is identified at the twenties. Grey Matter: The highest development of the grey matter is identified at the middle age of life.

White Matter: White matter transmits both sensory and motor impulses between the peripheral nervous system and the grey matter. Grey Matter: Grey matter processes the retrieved information from the white matter and sends the instructions back to the effector organs through the white matter.

White Matter: White matter controls the involuntary functions of the body such as blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature. Grey Matter: Grey matter controls the senses of the body such as hearing, feeling, seeing, speech, and memory. They extend out from the neuron bodies.

As their color is whiteish, these structures are called the white matter. The color comes from a high lipid fat content in myelin. This structure connects the brain cells and is distributed in tracts or bundles. Even though both types of matter are arranged throughout our CNS, i. At a system or classification level, the division on the white and gray matter is accurate.

However, there are mixed cell types. Such types exist both in white and gray matter. Therefore, things are not very black-and-white or gray-and-white , nor simple. Except for these basic differences, it is important to emphasize the contents of both of these types of matter.

Namely, the gray matter contains glial cells, axon tracts, neuropil glia, dendrites, and unmyelinated axons , as well as capillary blood vessels 1. The white matter contains the glial cells responsible for the production of myelin the oligodendrocytes and the astrocytes 1.

It is easy to detect where the gray matter concentration is the highest. Simply put, we look for the neuronal cell bodies. We know that they prevail in the cerebellum , brain stem or truncus encephali, and the cerebrum. The majority of the neurons are located in the cerebellum 1. More precisely, it contains more than all other brain parts together. Gray matter is also present in the spinal cord. Moreover, there are regions in the CNS that have an external layer of the gray matter.

Those are, primarily, the cerebrum and cerebellum. When it comes to the brain stem and its gray matter, this part of the brain contains groups of neurons or nuclei embedded within white matter tracts. Axon tracts that represent the white matter are mostly found under the gray matter regions.

This means they are located in deeper areas of the cerebellum and cerebrum. In other cases, for example, the basal ganglia, the grey matter is embedded in the white matter.

When it comes to the brain ventricles filled with fluid, they are also surrounded by white matter. It is exceptionally interesting to take a look at the spinal cord and the organization of the white and gray matter in this region.