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Shrinking Matter
30 April 2015

Shrinking Matter

No, not the latest design in bicycle helmets; rather these are brain images taken from a study researching the ageing process. The brain consists of two distinct regions: grey matter, containing the operational centres of brain cells; and white matter – the long nerve fibres that extend into the body. We already know that grey matter shrinks as we get older but what happens to the white matter? To find out researchers scanned the brains of around 350 adults with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and used computer software to merge the images. From this they created a composite 3D map that shows the typical location of white and grey matter. In the picture the distribution of white matter is highlighted in green while the regions that are smaller in the elderly are shown in red. So some, but not all, of the white matter shrinks with age.

Written by Julie Webb

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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