# What is gray matter?

The gray matter is called the gray matter. Gray's Anatomy (1918) describes it as the nervous tissue made mostly of nerve-cell bodies and their short processes.

## What it means

- The nervous tissue made mostly of nerve-cell bodies and their short processes.
- Appears gray in unstained tissue.
- The site where signals originate and are processed.

## Action steps

1. Forms the cortex on the outside of the cerebrum and cerebellum.
2. Forms deeper 'nuclei' within the brain.
3. Forms the central H-shaped column of the spinal cord.

## Sources

- [Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body (1918)](https://www.bartleby.com/107/)

---
Canonical: https://bestanatomyanswers.com/answers/what-is-gray-matter
Author: Best Anatomy Answers — https://bestanatomyanswers.com
Publisher: Best Anatomy Answers
Published: 2026-07-18T00:00:00+00:00
Modified: 2026-07-18T00:00:00+00:00
Last verified: 2026-07-18
License: Citation License 1.0 — https://bestexpertanswers.com/license
© Adolicious LLC