Some make you feel tired, for example, while others make you feel pain. Different signals control different processes, and your brain interprets each. The brain sends and receives chemical and electrical signals throughout the body.

Gray matter is primarily responsible for processing and interpreting information, while white matter transmits that information to other parts of the nervous system. The different composition of neuron parts is why the two appear as separate shades on certain scans.Д®ach region serves a different role. Gray matter is primarily composed of neuron somas (the round central cell bodies), and white matter is mostly made of axons (the long stems that connects neurons together) wrapped in myelin (a protective coating). In the spinal cord, this order is reversed: The white matter is on the outside, and the gray matter sits within. In the brain, gray matter refers to the darker, outer portion, while white matter describes the lighter, inner section underneath. Gray and white matter are two different regions of the central nervous system. What is the gray matter and white matter? It contains blood vessels and nerves, including neurons and glial cells. The remaining 40% is a combination of water, protein, carbohydrates and salts. Weighing about 3 pounds in the average adult, the brain is about 60% fat. Together, the brain and spinal cord that extends from it make up the central nervous system, or CNS. The brain is a complex organ that controls thought, memory, emotion, touch, motor skills, vision, breathing, temperature, hunger and every process that regulates our body.

Lobes of the brain and their functions