Changes: Grey matter

Latest revision as of 19:56, 4 November 2012

Biological: Behavioural genetics · Evolutionary psychology · Neuroanatomy · Neurochemistry · Neuroendocrinology · Neuroscience · Psychoneuroimmunology · Physiological Psychology · Psychopharmacology (Index, Outline)

Grey matter

The formation of the spinal nerve from the dorsal and ventral roots. (Gray matter labeled at center right.)
Latin	substantia grisea
Gray's	subject #
System
MeSH	[1]
File:Grey matter and white matter - very high mag.jpg
Micrograph showing grey matter, with the characteristic neuronal cell bodies (right of image - dark shade of pink), and white matter with its characteristic fine meshwork-like appearance (left of image - lighter shade of pink). HPS stain.

Grey matter (or gray matter) is a major component of the central nervous system, consisting of neuronal cell bodies, neuropil (dendrites and unmyelinated axons), glial cells (astroglia and oligodendrocytes) and capillaries. Grey matter contains neural cell bodies, in contrast to white matter, which does not and mostly contains myelinated axon tracts.^[1] The color difference arises mainly from the whiteness of myelin. In living tissue, grey matter actually has a grey-brown color, which comes from capillary blood vessels and neuronal cell bodies.^[2]

Function

Grey matter is made up of neuronal cell bodies. The grey matter includes regions of the brain involved in muscle control, sensory perception such as seeing and hearing, memory, emotions, and speech.

Distribution

Grey matter is distributed at the surface of the cerebral hemispheres (cerebral cortex) and of the cerebellum (cerebellar cortex), as well as in the depths of the cerebrum (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).

Research

Volume and cognition in elderly people

Significant positive correlations have been found between grey matter volume in elderly persons and measures of semantic and short-term memory. No significant correlations with white matter volume were found. These results suggest that individual variability in specific cognitive functions that are relatively well preserved with ageing is accounted for by the variability of gray matter volume in healthy elderly subjects.^[3]

Volume associated with bipolar disorder

Some structural differences in grey matter may be associated with psychiatric disorders. There was no difference in whole-brain grey matter volume between patients with bipolar I disorder and healthy controls. Subjects with bipolar I disorder had smaller volumes in the left inferior parietal lobule, right superior temporal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, and left caudate. Only the volume of the right middle frontal gyrus was correlated with duration of illness and the number of episodes in patients.^[4]

Effects of smoking

Older smokers lose grey matter and cognitive function at a greater rate than non-smokers. Chronic smokers who quit during the study lost fewer brain cells and retained better intellectual function than those who continued to smoke.^[5]

Effects of child abuse

Adolescents who were subjected to abuse and neglect appear to have decreased gray matter in the prefrontal cortex.^[6]

Additional images

References

↑ Purves, Dale, George J. Augustine, David Fitzpatrick, William C. Hall, Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, James O. McNamara, and Leonard E. White (2008). Neuroscience. 4th ed., 15–16, Sinauer Associates.
↑ Kolb & Whishaw: Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology (2003) page 49
↑ Taki, Y., Kinomura, S., Sato, K., Goto, R., Wu, K., Kawashima, R., & Fukuda, H. Correlation between gray/white matter volume and cognition in healthy elderly people.. Brain and Cognition. URL accessed on 2011-04-21.
↑ Li, M., Cui, L., Deng, W., Ma, X., Huang, C., Jiang, L., & ... Li, T. Voxel-based morphometric analysis on the volume of gray matter in bipolar I disorder. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging. URL accessed on 2011-04-21.
↑ Almeida, Osvaldo Smoking causes brain cell loss and cognitive decline. NeuroImage. URL accessed on 2011-04-21.
↑ http://news.yale.edu/2011/12/05/past-abuse-leads-loss-gray-matter-brains-adolescents-0

External links

Dictionary at eMedicine Gray+matter

Spinal cord

epidural space, dura mater, subdural space, arachnoid mater, subarachnoid space, pia mater, denticulate ligaments, conus medullaris, cauda equina, filum terminale, cervical enlargement, lumbar enlargement, anterior median fissure, dorsal root, dorsal root ganglion, dorsal ramus, ventral root, ventral ramus, sympathetic trunk, gray ramus communicans, white ramus communicans

grey matter: central canal, substantia gelatinosa of Rolando, reticular formation, substantia gelatinosa centralis, interneuron, anterior horn, lateral horn, posterior horn (column of Clarke, dorsal spinocerebellar tract)

white matter: anterior funiculus: descending (anterior corticospinal tract, vestibulospinal fasciculus, tectospinal tract), ascending (anterior spinothalamic tract, anterior proper fasciculus)

lateral funiculus: descending (lateral corticospinal tract, rubrospinal tract, olivospinal tract), ascending dorsal spinocerebellar tract, ventral spinocerebellar tract, spinothalamic tract, lateral spinothalamic tract, anterior spinothalamic tract, spinotectal tract, posterolateral tract, lateral proper fasciculus, medial longitudinal fasciculus

posterior funiculus: fasciculus gracilis, fasciculus cuneatus, posterior proper fasciculus

|}

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).

[Purves-1] Purves, Dale, George J. Augustine, David Fitzpatrick, William C. Hall, Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, James O. McNamara, and Leonard E. White (2008). Neuroscience. 4th ed., 15–16, Sinauer Associates.

[2] Kolb & Whishaw: Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology (2003) page 49

[3] Taki, Y., Kinomura, S., Sato, K., Goto, R., Wu, K., Kawashima, R., & Fukuda, H. Correlation between gray/white matter volume and cognition in healthy elderly people.. Brain and Cognition. URL accessed on 2011-04-21.

[4] Li, M., Cui, L., Deng, W., Ma, X., Huang, C., Jiang, L., & ... Li, T. Voxel-based morphometric analysis on the volume of gray matter in bipolar I disorder. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging. URL accessed on 2011-04-21.

[5] Almeida, Osvaldo Smoking causes brain cell loss and cognitive decline. NeuroImage. URL accessed on 2011-04-21.

[6] ttp://news.yale.edu/2011/12/05/past-abuse-leads-loss-gray-matter-brains-adolescents-0

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Biopsy}}
+{{Infobox Anatomy |
+  Name         = Grey matter |
+  Latin        = substantia grisea |
+  GraySubject  = |
+  GrayPage     = |
+  Image        = spinal nerve.svg|
+  Caption      = The formation of the spinal nerve from the dorsal and ventral roots. (Gray matter labeled at center right.) |
+  Image2       = Grey matter and white matter - very high mag.jpg |
+  Caption2     = [[Micrograph]] showing grey matter, with the characteristic [[neuron|neuronal cell bodies]] (right of image - dark shade of pink), and [[white matter]] with its characteristic fine meshwork-like appearance (left of image - lighter shade of pink). [[HPS stain]].|
+  System       = |
+  MeshName     = |
+  MeshNumber   = |
+  Dorlands = nine/100008780 |
+  DorlandsID = Gray matter |
+  Code         = [[Terminologia Anatomica|TA]] A14.1.00.002 |
+}}
+'''Grey matter''' (or '''gray matter''') is a major component of the [[central nervous system]], consisting of [[neuron]]al [[Soma (biology)|cell bodies]], [[neuropil]] ([[dendrites]] and [[myelin|unmyelinated]] [[axons]]), [[glial cell]]s ([[astroglia]] and [[oligodendrocytes]]) and [[Capillary|capillaries]]. Grey matter contains neural cell bodies, in contrast to [[white matter]], which does not and mostly contains myelinated axon tracts.<ref name="Purves" >{{cite book | author = Purves, Dale, George J. Augustine, David Fitzpatrick, William C. Hall, Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, James O. McNamara, and Leonard E. White | title = Neuroscience. 4th ed. | publisher = Sinauer Associates | pages = 15–16 | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-87893-697-7}}</ref> The color difference arises mainly from the whiteness of  myelin. In living tissue, grey matter actually has a grey-brown color, which comes from [[capillary]] blood vessels and neuronal cell bodies.<ref>Kolb & Whishaw: Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology (2003) page 49</ref>
+==Function==
+Grey matter is made up of neuronal cell bodies. The grey matter includes regions of the brain involved in muscle control, sensory perception such as seeing and hearing, memory, emotions, and speech.
+==Distribution==
+Grey matter is distributed at the surface of the [[cerebral hemisphere]]s ([[cerebral cortex]]) and of the [[cerebellum]] ([[cerebellar cortex]]), as well as in the depths of the cerebrum ([[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 body|olivary nuclei]], [[cranial nerve nuclei]]) and [[spinal cord|spinal]] grey matter ([[Anterior horn (spinal cord)|anterior horn]], [[lateral horn]], [[posterior horn of lateral ventricle|posterior horn]]).
+==Research==
-'''Grey matter''' is a category of [[nervous tissue]] with many nerve cell bodies and few [[myelin|myelinated]] [[axon]]s.
+===Volume and cognition in elderly people===
+Significant positive correlations have been found between grey matter volume in elderly persons and measures of semantic and short-term memory. No significant correlations with white matter volume were found. These results suggest that individual variability in specific cognitive functions that are relatively well preserved with ageing is accounted for by the variability of gray matter volume in healthy elderly subjects.<ref>{{cite web|last=Taki, Y., Kinomura, S., Sato, K., Goto, R., Wu, K., Kawashima, R., & Fukuda, H.|title=Correlation between gray/white matter volume and cognition in healthy elderly people.|url=http://web.ebscohost.com.leo.lib.unomaha.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=15&sid=bb077608-d2b7-4bbd-b006-85f23b27db1b%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=psyh&AN=2011-01976-010|publisher=Brain and Cognition|accessdate=2011-04-21}}</ref>
+===Volume associated with bipolar disorder===
-It forms the superficial parts of the brain and the deep parts of the [[spinal cord]].
+Some structural differences in grey matter may be associated with psychiatric disorders. There was no difference in whole-brain grey matter volume between patients with [[bipolar I disorder]] and healthy controls. Subjects with bipolar I disorder had smaller volumes in the left inferior parietal lobule, right superior temporal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, and left caudate. Only the volume of the right middle frontal gyrus was correlated with duration of illness and the number of episodes in patients.<ref>{{cite web|last=Li, M., Cui, L., Deng, W., Ma, X., Huang, C., Jiang, L., & ... Li, T.|title=Voxel-based morphometric analysis on the volume of gray matter in bipolar I disorder|url=http://web.ebscohost.com.leo.lib.unomaha.edu/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=15&sid=bb077608-d2b7-4bbd-b006-85f23b27db1b%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=psyh&AN=2011-02038-003|publisher=Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging|accessdate=2011-04-21}}</ref>
-It is composed of the bodies of the nerve cells ([[neuron]]) and the nonmyelniated sections of processes ([[axon]]s and [[dendrite]]s), including processes just emerging from the neurons.
-Grey matter is the major part of the nervous system in which the nerve impulses for all kinds of [[mental functions]] are produced and then sent away to be carried to their target organs by [[white matter]].
+===Effects of smoking===
-The [[cerebral cortex]] and the [[basal ganglia]], such as the [[putamen]] and the [[caudate nucleus]], are composed of grey matter.
+Older smokers lose grey matter and cognitive function at a greater rate than non-smokers. Chronic smokers who quit during the study lost fewer brain cells and retained better intellectual function than those who continued to smoke.<ref>{{cite web|last=Almeida|first=Osvaldo|title=Smoking causes brain cell loss and cognitive decline|url=http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201102093273/business-and-industry/smoking-causes-brain-cell-loss-and-cognitive-decline|publisher=NeuroImage|accessdate=2011-04-21}}</ref>
+===Effects of child abuse===
-In general, '''grey matter''' can be understood as the parts of the brain responsible for information processing, whereas '''white matter''' is responsible for information transmission. In addition, grey matter - unlike [[white matter]] - does not have a [[myelin sheath]] and does not regenerate after injury.
+Adolescents who were subjected to [[child abuse|abuse]] and neglect appear to have decreased gray matter in the [[prefrontal cortex]].<ref>http://news.yale.edu/2011/12/05/past-abuse-leads-loss-gray-matter-brains-adolescents-0</ref>
-Despite its name, grey matter may appear to have a pink hue, eventually losing its color after being removed from an active brain.
 ==See also==
-*[[White matter]]
+*[[Gray matter heterotopia]]
 *[[Neuropil]]
+*[[Periaqueductal grey matter]]
+*[[Rexed laminae]]
+*[[Substantia nigra]]
+*[[White matter]]
+==Additional images==
+<gallery>
+ Image:Human brain right dissected lateral view description.JPG |Human brain right dissected lateral view
+ Image:Gray678.png|Schematic representation of the chief ganglionic categories (I to V).
+</gallery>
+== References ==
+{{reflist}}
+==External links==
+* {{eMedicineDictionary|Gray+matter}}
+{{Nervous tissue}}
+{{Spinal cord}}
+{{Medulla}}
+{{Pons}}
+{{Mesencephalon}}
+{{Cerebellum}}
+{{Diencephalon}}
+{{Rostral basal ganglia and associated structures}}
+{{Cerebral cortex}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey Matter}}
-[[Category:Neuroscience]]
+[[Category:Neuroanatomy]]
 [[Category:Central nervous system]]
-{{Neuroscience-stub}}
+<!--
+[[ar:مادة رمادية]]
+[[ca:Substància grisa]]
+[[cs:Šedá hmota]]
 [[da:Grå substans]]
+[[de:Graue Substanz]]
+[[el:Φαιά ουσία]]
 [[es:Sustancia gris]]
 [[fr:Substance grise]]
+[[ko:회백질]]
+[[it:Sostanza grigia]]
+[[he:חומר אפור]]
 [[nl:Grijze stof]]
 [[ja:灰白質]]
+[[no:Grå substans]]
 [[pl:Substancja szara]]
+[[pt:Substância cinzenta]]
+[[sk:Sivá hmota]]
+[[sl:Siva možganovina]]
+[[fi:Harmaa aine]]
+[[sv:Grå hjärnsubstans]]
+[[tr:Gri madde]]
+[[uk:Сіра речовина]]
+[[zh:灰质]]
+-->
 {{enWP|Grey matter}}

v·d·e Histology: nervous tissue
Neurons (gray matter)	soma, axon (axon hillock, axoplasm, axolemma, neurofibril/neurofilament), dendrite (Nissl body, dendritic spine, apical dendrite, basal dendrite) types (bipolar, pseudounipolar, multipolar, pyramidal, Purkinje, granule)
Afferent nerve/Sensory nerve/Sensory neuron	GSA, GVA, SSA, SVA, fibers (Ia, Ib or Golgi, II or Aβ, III or Aδ or fast pain, IV or C or slow pain)
Efferent nerve/Motor nerve/Motor neuron	GSE, GVE, SVE, Upper motor neuron, Lower motor neuron (α motorneuron, γ motorneuron)
Synapses	neuropil, synaptic vesicle, neuromuscular junction, electrical synapse - Interneuron (Renshaw)
Sensory receptors	Free nerve ending, Meissner's corpuscle, Merkel nerve ending, Muscle spindle, Pacinian corpuscle, Ruffini ending, Olfactory receptor neuron, Photoreceptor cell, Hair cell, Taste bud
Glial cells	astrocyte, oligodendrocyte, ependymal cells, microglia, radial glia
Myelination (white matter)	Schwann cell, oligodendrocyte, nodes of Ranvier, internode, Schmidt-Lanterman incisures, neurolemma
Related connective tissues	epineurium, perineurium, endoneurium, nerve fascicle, meninges