gray matter reduction

[michele1999]

Sorry to sound stupid but what is gray matter reduction?

[thedonald627]

While your answer is educational, it doesn't answer michelle's question, "What is reduction in grey matter?"  I also would like to know the answer to that question.  My wife has fibromyalgia.  Fibromyalgia has been linked to reduction in grey matter in a recent study.  How might this manifest itself in ones behavior and health.  In other words, what are the possible effects?  What can we expect?

[highflyer800]

Gray matter or grey matter is a type of neural tissue which is found in the brain and spinal cord. It is named after its distinctive brownish-gray color, in contrast with white matter, another type of neural tissue which appears white because it is coated in myelin sheathes. Many people associate gray matter with intelligence and intellect, because it is a major component in the brain, leading to slang terms like “use those gray cells.”

This type of neural tissue is composed primarily of cell bodies, along with their dendrites. White matter, by contrast, is made from nerve fibers. The purpose of gray matter is to pass along sensory input, gathering information from the sensory organs and other gray matter cells and ensuring that it gets where it needs to go. The speed of communication is determined by the white matter, so one could think of the gray and white matter as the central processing unit of the brain.

People associate gray matter with intelligence for a good reason: when a brain is autopsied, it appears to be composed entirely of gray matter. Even before people understood the workings of the body, they recognized that the brain was clearly different, and many surmised that all of those gray cells had to be doing something. Gray matter also requires a lot of energy, using around 20% of the body's energy at any given time and taking advantage of a copious blood supply.