white matter in the brain

I work with the brith to three year old population and recently one of my children has had an MRI and mom states it shows a small amount of white matter.  What are the implications for the future and this little guys future?

[Yao Sun, MD, PhD]

"Decreased white matter" could be the result of many different processes, including past neurological injury, underlying genetic disease, and ongoing metabolic processes.  The long term outcomes and risk for neurodevelopmental delay depend upon the underlying process and the extent of the involvement for both the white matter and the brain overall.

In general, white matter disease can affect movement and motor tone, although cognitive delay can also be a result of the underlying disease process.