What makes up the white matter in the central nervous system?

What is white matter? White matter is composed of bundles of myelinated axons, which connect various gray matter areas of the brain to each other, and carry nerve impulses between neurons.

White matter is found in the deeper tissues of the brain (subcortical). It contains nerve fibers (axons), which are extensions of nerve cells (neurons). Many of these nerve fibers are surrounded by a type of sheath or covering called myelin. Myelin gives the white matter its color.

The central nervous system is made up of two types of tissue: the grey matter and the white matter. The grey matter is mainly composed of neuronal cell bodies and unmyelinated axons. … In the grey matter, these axons are mainly unmyelinated, meaning they are not covered by a whitish-colored, fatty protein called myelin.

The CNS is composed of white and gray matter. This can also be seen macroscopically on brain tissue. The white matter consists of axons and oligodendrocytes, while the gray matter consists of neurons and unmyelinated fibers.

In the most general sense, the gray matter of the brain facilitates information processing, and the white matter facilitates information transfer; both are critical for efficient operation of the neural networks responsible for a specific mental domain.

The gray matter is the areas where the actual “processing” is done whereas the white matter provides the communication between different gray matter areas and between the gray matter and the rest of the body. The neurons in the gray matter consist of neuronal cell bodies and their dendrites.

It is not possible to stop disease progression, and it is typically fatal within 6 months to 4 years of symptom onset. People with the juvenile form of metachromatic leukodystrophy, which develops between the age of 4 and adolescence, may live for many years after diagnosis.

White matter lesions observed on brain MRI are usually characteristic and occur in specific areas including the corpus callosum and pons. “However, in many cases, the white matter lesions as isolated observations are nonspecific” and could be due to MS or another cause, explained Drs Lange and Melisaratos.

White matter disease is commonly detected on brain MRI of aging individuals as white matter hyperintensities (WMH), or ‘leukoaraiosis.” Over the years it has become increasingly clear that the presence and extent of WMH is a radiographic marker of small cerebral vessel disease and an important predictor of the life- …

Myelin damage and the nervous system In multiple sclerosis, the protective coating on nerve fibers (myelin) in the central nervous system is damaged. This creates a lesion that, depending on the location in the central nervous system, may cause symptoms such as numbness, pain or tingling in parts of the body.

The grey matter also extends from the brain into the spinal cord. The grey matter creates a hornlike structure throughout the inside of the spinal cord while the white matter makes up the surrounding sections of the spinal cord. The grey matter does extend to the spinal cord to make signaling more effective.

The brain is not a solid organ. Instead, there are fluid-filled cavities within the brain called ventricles.

The CNS is comprised of the brain, cerebellum and spinal cord. Remaining neurons, and associated cells, distributed throughout the body form the PNS. The nervous system has three broad functions: sensory input, information processing, and motor output.

Your nervous system is your body’s command center. Originating from your brain, it controls your movements, thoughts and automatic responses to the world around you. It also controls other body systems and processes, such as digestion, breathing and sexual development (puberty).

The Central Nervous System is the integration and command center of the body. It consists of the brain, spinal cord and the retinas of the eyes. The Peripheral Nervous System consists of sensory neurons, ganglia (clusters of neurons) and nerves that connect the central nervous system to arms, hands, legs and feet.