How to Use gray matter in a Sentence

gray matter

noun
Definition of gray matternext
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  • The brain's gray matter contains the majority of the brain cells telling the body what to do.
    — Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 16 Jan. 2020
  • Then the robot knits 1,024 cobweb-thin electrode tendrils into the gray matter of the brain and rests the puck-like device in the hole.
    — Cade Metz, New York Times, 13 Dec. 2022
  • The concepts are felt through grimy, bass-heavy productions that slice and dice through your gray matter.
    — Billboard Staff, Billboard, 14 Feb. 2020
  • All across the brain, these changes are visible in gray matter, the layer of tissue in the brain that is rich with neurons.
    — Darby Saxbe, The Conversation, 30 Nov. 2022
  • The study found widespread reductions in the volume of gray matter in the brains of children with ADHD.
    — Amy Ellis Nutt, chicagotribune.com, 26 Mar. 2018
  • For one, gray matter volume increases on top of the brain and decreases along the base.
    — Matt Hrodey, Discover Magazine, 12 June 2023
  • In adults with mild hearing loss, studies show a decrease in gray matter.
    — Lydia Denworth, Scientific American, 15 Aug. 2023
  • The condition affects the area in the spinal cord called the gray matter and weakens muscles and reflexes.
    — Erik Lacitis, The Seattle Times, 19 Oct. 2018
  • The authors of the study found that drinking a moderate amount of alcohol often can cause the volumes of white and gray matter to shrink in the brain.
    — Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 8 Mar. 2022
  • All of these regions are made of gray matter, a type of tissue that contains neuron cell bodies and covers the surface of the brain.
    — Grace Huckins, Wired, 17 Aug. 2020
  • Returning to Earth helped the gray matter mostly bounce back but seemed to cause shrinkage in white matter, which connects parts of the brain.
    — National Geographic, 12 June 2019
  • And scans of white and gray matter in the brain will show if there is permanent changes induced by this style of interacting with a child.
    — Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 3 Feb. 2020
  • Researchers have seen neuroplastic change during the life span in both the white and gray matter that form brain tissue.
    — Hilary A. Diefenbach, Discover Magazine, 20 Nov. 2023
  • With normal aging, people lose a tiny fraction of gray matter each year.
    — New York Times, 7 Mar. 2022
  • Oxygen flow to the gray matter of hibernators can drop to as little as 2 percent of normal.
    — Gregory Mone, Discover Magazine, 19 June 2013
  • The scans showed signs of tissue damage in areas of the brain related to smell, as well as a reduction in gray matter in parts linked to smell and memory.
    — Alexander Tin, CBS News, 7 Mar. 2022
  • It was found that among those who drank alcohol, adults — and to a lesser extent, teens — had a reduction in gray matter volume.
    — Josh Magness, sacbee, 14 Feb. 2018
  • Changes in gray matter with pregnancy were, again, most prominent in the default mode network.
    — Ingrid Wickelgren, Scientific American, 23 Nov. 2022
  • Of course, gray matter isn’t completely impervious to the ravages of time.
    — Erin Blakemore, Popular Science, 9 Mar. 2021
  • Ties between these areas had become strengthened and gray matter volume there was greater than in those who weren't lonely.
    — Ryan Prior, CNN, 16 Dec. 2020
  • Shoulders and hamstrings and ankles and knees, but the gray matter’s a little different, it’s a lot different.
    — Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press, 30 Sep. 2022
  • To do so, your gray matter relies on the power of association.
    — Popular Science, 18 Sep. 2020
  • Ghostly occurrences can be the result of larger problems in our gray matter.
    — Jake Bittle, Popular Science, 6 Oct. 2020
  • Underneath lies the white matter, which stretches in bundles of fiber between regions of gray matter and carries messages all over the brain.
    — Grace Huckins, Wired, 17 Aug. 2020
  • His research suggests that drinking more than about one drink a day – for both men and women – is associated with lower white and gray matter in the brain.
    — Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, 18 Feb. 2023
  • As people age, their brains naturally lose a tiny amount of gray matter each year, which provides nutrients and energy to the brain.
    — Corryn Wetzel, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Mar. 2022
  • In 2012, Sikela and collaborators used special tools to count the number of copies in healthy people and discovered that the more copies someone has, the larger their gray matter, the portion of the brain made up of nerve cells.
    — Quanta Magazine, 2 Jan. 2014
  • One unlucky victim goes rooting around his own skull for gray matter, which is as close as this movie gets to an indictment of the medical profession.
    — Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2023
  • One study shows more gray matter in the portions of the brain that deal with attention, auditory processing, emotional stimulus, and recognition in the brains of people with high IQs than in the brains of the control group.
    — Constance Grady, Vox, 14 Aug. 2024
  • Brain scans showed those who received liraglutide lost nearly 50% less volume in the frontal, temporal, parietal and total gray matter − areas of the brain that control memory, learning, language and decision making.
    — Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY, 30 July 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gray matter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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