News tagged with white matter

Related topics: brain , magnetic resonance imaging , nerve cells , brain cells , brain injury



White matter

White matter is one of the two components of the central nervous system and consists mostly of myelinated axons. White matter tissue of the freshly cut brain appears pinkish white to the naked eye because of myelin is composed largely of lipid and a few percent of capillaries. Its white color is due to its usual preservation in formaldehyde. A 20 year-old male has around 176,000 km of myelinated axons in his brain.

The other main component of the brain is grey matter (actually pinkish tan due to blood capillaries). A third colored component found in the brain that appears darker due to higher levels of melanin in dopaminergic neurons than its nearby areas is the substantia nigra.

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White matter imaging provides insight into human and chimpanzee aging

(Medical Xpress)—The instability of "white matter" in humans may contribute to greater cognitive decline during the aging of humans compared with chimpanzees, scientists from Yerkes National Primate Research ...

Neuroscience created May 14, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Brain research shows two parents may be better than one

A team of researchers at the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) have discovered that adult brain cell production might be determined, in part, by the early parental environment. The study suggests that ...

Medical research created May 01, 2013 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast