WHITE MATTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does white matter mean? 

• WHITE MATTER (noun)
  The noun WHITE MATTER has 1 sense:

1. whitish nervous tissue of the CNS consisting of neurons and their myelin sheaths

  Familiarity information: WHITE MATTER used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WHITE MATTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Whitish nervous tissue of the CNS consisting of neurons and their myelin sheaths

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

substantia alba; white matter

Hypernyms ("white matter" is a kind of...):

nerve tissue; nervous tissue (tissue composed of neurons)

Meronyms (parts of "white matter"):

fibrous astrocyte (star-shaped cells with long processes; found in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "white matter"):

nerve pathway; nerve tract; pathway; tract (a bundle of myelinated nerve fibers following a path through the brain)

Holonyms ("white matter" is a substance of...):

central nervous system; CNS; systema nervosum centrale (the portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord)

 Context examples 

The white matter is the internal capsule.

(Corpus Striatum, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Age-related brain lesions known as white matter hyperintensities have been linked to movement problems and disabilities later in life.

(Physical Activity May Reduce Age-Related Movement Problems, NIH)

It is found mainly in the white matter of the brain.

(Fibrous Astrocyte, NCI Thesaurus)

The cavity surrounding the white matter structure within the cleft that separates the left and right cerebral hemispheres.

(Corpus Callosum Cistern, NCI Thesaurus)

Necrosis and softening of the white matter around the ventricles in the brain.

(Periventricular Leukomalacia, NCI Thesaurus)

A white matter structure within the cleft that separates the left and right cerebral hemispheres in the mammalian brain.

(Corpus Callosum, NCI Thesaurus)

It is characterized by spongy degeneration of the white matter of the brain.

(Canavan Disease, NCI Thesaurus)

Those who spent the most time on tablets, phones and the TV had less white matter in their brain.

(Too Much Screen Time Changes Structure of Toddlers' Brains, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Point mutations in the gene are linked to leukoencephalopathy with vanishing white matter.

(EIF2B1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Mutations in the gene are linked to both leukoencephalopathy with vanishing white matter and ovarioleukodystrophy.

(EIF2B2 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)