ArticleJournal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials2015
Mechanical properties of gray and white matter brain tissue by indentation.
Article in Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 263 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
263 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 679 citations in OpenAlex.
- Bilateral basal ganglia hemorrhage: a systematic review of etiologies, management strategies, and clinical outcomes.Neurosurgical review · 2023Pooled it
- Sleep deprivation and sleep intensity exert distinct effects on cerebral vasomotion and brain pulsations driven by the respiratory and cardiac cycles.PLoS biology · 2025Trial
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- Interface geometry governs probe insertion mechanics and electrode deviation in layered brain-mimicking phantoms for deep brain stimulation.Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology · 2026Article
- Co-Delivery of Sustained Release Chondroitinase ABC-37 With Human iPSC-Derived Neural Progenitors Promotes Transplant Survival and Functional Recovery in a Rodent Model of Stroke.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Focused Ultrasound-Induced Mechanical Ablation Affects the Carbohydrate Metabolism of Residual/Peri-Focally Localized Glioblastoma Cells.International journal of cancer · 2026Article
- Performance Estimation and Ex Vivo Validation of Untethered Magnetic Robots in Soft Tissue.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Mechanisms of inflammatory response in secondary brain injury: a review of computational approaches, challenges, and future directions.Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology · 2026Review
- Spatial scale of indentation explains shift in ratio between spinal cord gray and white matter stiffness.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Microengineered Gradient Hydrogels for Mechanobiology.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Review
- An exceptionally conductive hydrogel for all-organic, ultraflexible, and chronic neural interfaces.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Viscoelastic Hydrogels Governed by Molecular Interactions and Mechanochemical Effects.Polymers · 2026Review
- Mechanistic multiphysics modeling reveals how blood pulsation drives CSF flow, pressure, and brain deformation under physiological and injection conditions.Fluids and barriers of the CNS · 2026Article
- Typical development of the human fetal subplate: Regional heterogeneity, growth, and asymmetry assessed by in vivo T2-weighted MRI.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Stochastic Nanoscale Biophysical Cues as a Basis for the Induction of Glioblastoma-Like Transcriptional Programs in Astrocytes.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- AN IN SILICO STUDY OF LOW-INTENSITY FOCUSED ULTRASOUND DISPLACEMENT MAPPING WITH A 220 KHZ CLINICAL PHASED-ARRAY TRANSDUCER.Proceedings. IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging · 2026Article
- Ultrasensitive measurement of brain penetration mechanics and blood vessel rupture with microscale probes.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Nonmonotonic rate-dependent adhesion of hydrogels.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Mechanical characterization of human versus porcine brain tissue under large strains.Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology · 2026Article
- Soft, Flexible, and Stretchable Platforms for Tissue-Interfaced Bioelectronics.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
203 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The mammalian brain is composed of an outer layer of gray matter, consisting of cell bodies, dendrites, and unmyelinated axons, and an inner core of white matter, consisting primarily of myelinated axons. Recent evidence suggests that microstructural differences between gray and white matter play an important role during neurodevelopment. While brain tissue as a whole is rheologically well characterized, the individual features of gray and white matter remain poorly understood. Here we quantify the mechanical properties of gray and white matter using a robust, reliable, and repeatable method, flat-punch indentation. To systematically characterize gray and white matter moduli for varying indenter diameters, loading rates, holding times, post-mortem times, and locations we performed a series of n=192 indentation tests. We found that indenting thick, intact coronal slices eliminates the common challenges associated with small specimens: it naturally minimizes boundary effects, dehydration, swelling, and structural degradation. When kept intact and hydrated, brain slices maintained their mechanical characteristics with standard deviations as low as 5% throughout the entire testing period of five days post mortem. White matter, with an average modulus of 1.89 5kPa ± 0.592 kPa, was on average 39% stiffer than gray matter, p<0.01, with an average modulus of 1.389 kPa ± 0.289 kPa, and displayed larger regional variations. It was also more viscous than gray matter and responded less rapidly to mechanical loading. Understanding the rheological differences between gray and white matter may have direct implications on diagnosing and understanding the mechanical environment in neurodevelopment and neurological disorders.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.