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. 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.
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Famous quotes containing the words gray and/or matter:
““‘Weave the warp and weave the woof,
The winding-sheet of Edward’s race.”
—Thomas Gray (1716–1771)
“During those years in Stamps, I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare. He was my first white love.... it was Shakespeare who said, “When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes.” It was a state of mind with which I found myself most familiar. I pacified myself about his whiteness by saying that after all he had been dead so long it couldn’t matter to anyone any more.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)