Gray Matter Vs White Matter In Brain And Spinal Cord

A brain injury can be severely debilitating but depending on the injury it doesn t have to be permanent.

Gray matter vs white matter in brain and spinal cord.

Grey matter in the brain and spinal cord. A lot of confusion revolves around the distinction between gray and white matter in the brain but the difference is actually a pretty simple one. Such types exist both in white and gray matter. If the white matter in the spinal cord is pinched or squashed the information needed to move limbs doesn t get where it needs to go leading to.

White matter is one of the two components of the brain that coordinate different regions of the brain. Gray matter named for its pinkish gray color is home to neural cell bodies axon terminals and dendrites as well as all nerve synapses. Mainly the processed signals by gray matter are being passed through white matter inside the brain. The brain and the spinal cord consist of nerves that belong to the central nervous system the major function of the central nervous system is to coordinate the functions of the body based on the information carried by the peripheral nervous system.

Even though both types of matter are arranged throughout our cns i e. A common white matter injury is a spinal injury. Gray and white matters are the two main types of brain cells and the functions of these vary from each other. They exist in both brain and spinal cord we must emphasize one detail.

Section through spinal chord showing the spinal reflex arches forming the gray matter. At a system or classification level the division on the white and gray matter is accurate. Main difference white matter vs grey matter. A2a first of all gray matter consists of neuronal cell bodies and white matter consists of myelinated axons.

It is said that. Grey matter gets identified as the major component of the human brain that has several nucleon bodies neuropil and other parts that help in working on body parts. However there are mixed cell types. White matter gets defined as the tissue of the brain and spinal cord that is pale in color and consists mostly of nerve fibers that have myelin sheath around.

In the brain the cortex outer part is the processing unit which deals with complex mental tasks and is made up of grey matter. The gray matter constitutes basic processing nuclei that form the reflex arches in the spinal chord. The white matter in the spinal chord constitutes the various sensory and motor pathways to and from the brain respectively. White matter and grey matter are two components in the brain and the spinal cord.