white matter

white matter

n.

Whitish nerve tissue, especially of the brain and spinal cord, consisting chiefly of myelinated nerve fibers.

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white matter

Noun

the whitish tissue of the brain and spinal cord, consisting mainly of nerve fibres

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white matter

The whitish tissue of the vertebrate brain and spinal cord, made up chiefly of nerve fibers (axons) covered in myelin sheaths. Compare gray matter.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

white matter - whitish nervous tissue of the CNS consisting of neurons and their myelin sheaths substantia alba nerve tissue, nervous tissue - tissue composed of neurons fibrous astrocyte - star-shaped cells with long processes; found in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord nerve pathway, nerve tract, pathway, tract - a bundle of myelinated nerve fibers following a path through the brain central nervous system, CNS, systema nervosum centrale - the portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord