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Grey matter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Grey matter | |
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| The formation of the spinal nerve from the dorsal and ventral roots. (Grey matter labeled at center right.) | |
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| Latin | substantia grisea |
| Dorlands/Elsevier | s_27/12766773 |
Grey matter (or gray matter) is a major component of the central nervous system, consisting of nerve cell bodies, glial cells (astroglia and oligodendrocytes), capillaries, and short nerve cell extensions/processes (axons and dendrites).
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It is composed of cell bodies as opposed to white matter (cell axons). It has a grey brown color which comes from the capillary blood vessels and the neuronal cell bodies.
Grey matter is distributed at the surface of the cerebral hemispheres (cerebral cortex) and of the cerebellum (cerebellar cortex), as well as in the depth of the cerebral (thalamus; hypothalamus; subthalamus, basal ganglia - putamen, globus pallidus, nucleus accumbens; septal nuclei), cerebellar (deep cerebellar nuclei - dentate nucleus, globose nucleus, emboliform nucleus, fastigial nucleus), brainstem (substantia nigra, red nucleus, olivary nuclei, cranial nerve nuclei) and spinal grey matter (anterior horn, lateral horn, posterior horn).
The function of grey matter is to route sensory or motor stimulus to interneurons of the CNS in order to create a response to the stimulus through chemical synapse activity. Research has shown that the amount of grey matter in a brain is positively correlated with human intelligence[1], except in the case of those with autism spectrum disorders[2].
Grey matter structures (cortex, deep nuclei) process information originating in the sensory organs or in other grey matter regions. This information is conveyed via specialized nerve cell extensions (long axons), which form the bulk of the cerebral, cerebellar, and spinal white matter.
- Gray+matter at eMedicine Dictionary
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| Spinal nerve | Dorsal (Root, Ganglion, Ramus) • Ventral (Root, Ramus) • Sympathetic trunk • rami communicantes (Gray, White) |
| Gray matter/Rexed laminae | Posterior horn (Column of Clarke, Substantia gelatinosa of Rolando, Nucleus proprius) • Lateral horn • Anterior horn • Central canal/Substantia gelatinosa centralis |
| White matter: somatic/ascending (blue) | |
| White matter: motor/descending (red) |
Lateral: Corticospinal (Lateral) • Ep (Rubrospinal, Olivospinal) Anterior: Corticospinal (Anterior) • Ep (Vestibulospinal, Tectospinal, Reticulospinal) |
| Layers | Epidural space • Dura mater • Subdural space • Arachnoid mater • Subarachnoid space • Pia mater |
| Other structures | Denticulate ligaments • Conus medullaris • Cauda equina • Filum terminale • Cervical enlargement • Lumbar enlargement • Anterior median fissure |