White Matter

The white matter is the whitish nerve tissue of the cerebrum, cerebelum, and spinal cord, consisting chiefly of myelinated axons of nerve cells. Most of the axons are covered by whitish, fatty sheaths called myelin, hence appearing white in freshly-cut brain or spinal cord. The white matter is found in the central part of the brain and is surrounded by the cerebral cortex grey matter. In the spinal cord it is the other way around, the white matter envelops the grey matter.