How to Use white matter in a Sentence

white matter

noun
  • The study found that white matter was affected in adults, but not teenagers, who drank.
    — Josh Magness, sacbee, 14 Feb. 2018
  • Both gray and white matter are important for a healthy and functioning brain.
    — Josh Magness, sacbee, 14 Feb. 2018
  • Eden explains that the image illustrates the white matter pathways in the brain.
    — Lisa Wood Shapiro, WIRED, 18 June 2018
  • Meanwhile, the scanner is taking slices — noisy, virtual slices — of my gray and white matter.
    — Jeff Wheelwright, Discover Magazine, 3 Jan. 2019
  • However, some white matter is still visible as the pale grey layer that borders the holes.
    — Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 27 Jan. 2020
  • Two of these sheets, highly folded, along with their hundreds of millions of wires—the white matter—are crammed into the skull.
    — Christof Koch, Scientific American, 8 May 2018
  • When a wild rabbit is in danger, more white matter is needed for faster reflexes and for learning what to be afraid of.
    — Elizabeth Gamillo, Science | AAAS, 25 June 2018
  • Scientists found a dramatic reduction in gray and white matter in their brains.
    — Amy Chillag, CNN, 4 Aug. 2019
  • This helped researchers to identify the brain’s six cortical layers and white matter.
    — Isabel Fraser, WIRED, 15 Aug. 2024
  • Somehow, the brain has been able to reconfigure itself to carry out the same task despite its changes in white matter.
    — Katherine Ellen Foley, Quartz, 19 Nov. 2019
  • Higher screen use was linked to lower amounts of white matter, the fibrous tissue that connects different parts of the brain.
    — Alex Orlando, Discover Magazine, 13 Apr. 2020
  • Our brain and central nervous system is generally composed of both gray and white matter.
    — New Atlas, 11 Feb. 2025
  • This growth in connectivity presents itself as white matter in the brain, which comes from a fatty substance called myelin.
    — Alexandra Sifferlin, Time, 8 Sep. 2017
  • When the brain is scanned, small white spots, called white matter hyperintensities, show the extent of the damage.
    — Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 10 May 2023
  • That’s not paradoxical; the greater amount of white matter doesn’t mean habitual liars are more inclined to stick to rules and morals.
    — Paul Tullis, Town & Country, 30 Apr. 2023
  • Maillard has made a name for herself by mapping the brain’s white matter, the silent highways that carry thoughts and impulses through the mind.
    — Cathie Anderson, Sacbee.com, 21 Apr. 2025
  • The study found the greatest amount of white matter damage in people who use oral steroids regularly over long periods of time.
    — Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 30 Aug. 2022
  • Maybe lying changes their brains over time, or maybe the extra white matter predisposes them to lying more easily.
    — Elizabeth Siegel, Allure, 23 Jan. 2018
  • 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
  • Scientists are scouring this rainbow array for faulty wiring in the neural connections in the white matter, which takes up half the brain.
    — Linda Marsa, Discover Magazine, 29 July 2014
  • Finally, the white matter in our brains deteriorates over time.
    — Kevin Cooke, Orlando Sentinel, 20 July 2024
  • 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
  • More white matter means stronger, better-functioning connections.
    — Sarah Jividen, Verywell Health, 4 Nov. 2025
  • After many specialist visits and tests, an MRI found damage to the nerve fibers, or white matter, in her brain.
    — Sumathi Reddy, WSJ, 6 June 2018
  • While some of the people in the juggling group got better at the skill than others, everyone in the group showed changes in their white matter as a result of learning the new skill.
    — Didi Gluck, Vogue, 7 Dec. 2023
  • On average, the diplomats had a lower volume of white matter than individuals in the control group.
    — Benedict Carey, BostonGlobe.com, 23 July 2019
  • While most business leaders who have spoken out have expressed strong disagreement over the immigration issue, not all view it as a black-and-white matter.
    — Monica Rodriguez, Fortune, 19 June 2018
  • Doctors believe his death may have been caused by a disorder of the white matter in his central nervous system, but the case remains a medical mystery.
    — Timothy Bella, Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2023
  • Study author Xin Zhang speculated at the time that the pollution was damaging white matter in the brain.
    — National Geographic, 20 Aug. 2019
  • Researchers theorized that this effect could result from removing pollutants that damage white matter in the brain.
    — Sanja Jelic, Verywell Health, 22 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'white 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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