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Grey matter is distinguished from white matter in that it contains numerous cell bodies and relatively few myelinated axons, while white matter contains relatively few cell bodies and is composed chiefly of long-range myelinated axons. [1] The colour difference arises mainly from the whiteness of myelin. In living tissue, grey matter actually ...
Myelin (/ ˈ m aɪ. ə l ɪ n / MY-ə-lin) is a lipid-rich material that surrounds nerve cell axons to insulate them and increase the rate at which electrical impulses (called action potentials) pass along the axon. [1] [2] The myelinated axon can be likened to an electrical wire (the axon) with insulating material (myelin) around it. However ...
The myelinated axons from the cortical neurons form the bulk of the neural tissue called white matter in the brain. The myelin gives the white appearance to the tissue in contrast to the grey matter of the cerebral cortex which contains the neuronal cell bodies.
White matter is the tissue through which messages pass between different areas of grey matter within the central nervous system. The white matter is white because of the fatty substance (myelin) that surrounds the nerve fibers (axons). This myelin is found in almost all long nerve fibers, and acts as an electrical insulation.
Group A are heavily myelinated, group B are moderately myelinated, and group C are unmyelinated. [1] [2] The other classification is a sensory grouping that uses the terms type Ia and type Ib, type II, type III, and type IV, sensory fibers. [1]
A single oligodendrocyte can extend its processes to cover up to 40 axons, that can include multiple adjacent axons. [2] The myelin sheath is not continuous but is segmented along the axon's length at gaps known as the nodes of Ranvier. In the peripheral nervous system the myelination of axons is carried out by Schwann cells. [1]
Myelinated axons (right) conduct impulses faster than unmyelinated axons. The function of nervous tissue is to form the communication network of the nervous system by conducting electric signals across tissue. [13] In the CNS, grey matter, which contains the synapses, is important for information processing.
Transmission electron micrograph of a myelinated axon Neuron with oligodendrocyte and myelin sheath showing cytoskeletal structures at a node of Ranvier The basic helix–loop–helix transcription factor OLIG1 plays an integral role in the process of oligodendrocyte myelinogenesis by regulating expression of myelin-related genes.