TEST Wiring, Plumbing and Insulation: the Different Types of Structures Injured Concussion (mTBI)

mTBI triggers multiple neurodegenerative cascades. They cut a wide swath and damage all sorts of different structures and systems.

Grey matter and white matter are both essential parts of the brain. About 40 percent is grey matter and 60 percent is white matter.

Grey matter and white matter are made up of different parts of brain cells called neurons.

Grey matter is made up of (and gets its coloration) from neuronal cell bodies and their dendrites. (The dendrites receive incoming signals.)

White matter is made up of axons, myelin and glial cells. It gets its coloration from the myeline sheaths. These structures comprise the transmission lines that carry messages between neurons and form the communication networks in the brain.

That’s a lot of terms. Here’s a image showing them and where they’re located:

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans can show damage to the white matter. The damages shows up in bright white on the scan. There are a bunch of different types of white matter injury.