Editing White matter (section)

==Imaging==

The study of white matter has been advanced with the [[neuroimaging]] technique called [[diffusion tensor imaging]] where [[magnetic resonance imaging]] (MRI) brain scanners are used. As of 2007, more than 700 publications have been published on the subject.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s12031-007-0029-0 |pmid=18157658 |title=Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)-based White Matter Mapping in Brain Research: A Review |journal=Journal of Molecular Neuroscience |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=51–61 |year=2007 |last1=Assaf |first1=Yaniv |last2=Pasternak |first2=Ofer |s2cid=3354176 }}</ref>

A 2009 paper by Jan Scholz and colleagues<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/nn.2412 |pmid=19820707 |pmc=2770457 |title=Training induces changes in white-matter architecture |journal=Nature Neuroscience |volume=12 |issue=11 |pages=1370–1371 |year=2009 |last1=Scholz |first1=Jan |last2=Klein |first2=Miriam C |last3=Behrens |first3=Timothy E J |last4=Johansen-Berg |first4=Heidi }}</ref> used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to demonstrate changes in white matter volume as a result of learning a new motor task (e.g. juggling). The study is important as the first paper to correlate motor learning with white matter changes. Previously, many researchers had considered this type of learning to be exclusively mediated by dendrites, which are not present in white matter. The authors suggest that electrical activity in axons may regulate myelination in axons. Or, gross changes in the diameter or packing density of the axon might cause the change.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.dnalc.org/g2conline/2009/10/19/white-matter-matters/|title=White Matter Matters|publisher=[[Dolan DNA Learning Center]]|access-date=2009-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091112154642/http://blogs.dnalc.org/g2conline/2009/10/19/white-matter-matters |archive-date=2009-11-12}}{{self-published source|date=May 2015}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=May 2015}} A more recent DTI study by Sampaio-Baptista and colleagues reported changes in white matter with motor learning along with increases in myelination.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3048-13.2013 |pmid=24336716 |pmc=3858622 |title=Motor Skill Learning Induces Changes in White Matter Microstructure and Myelination |journal=Journal of Neuroscience |volume=33 |issue=50 |pages=19499–19503 |year=2013 |last1=Sampaio-Baptista |first1=C. |last2=Khrapitchev |first2=A. A. |last3=Foxley |first3=S. |last4=Schlagheck |first4=T. |last5=Scholz |first5=J. |last6=Jbabdi |first6=S. |last7=Deluca |first7=G. C. |last8=Miller |first8=K. L. |last9=Taylor |first9=A. |last10=Thomas |first10=N. |last11=Kleim |first11=J. |last12=Sibson |first12=N. R. |last13=Bannerman |first13=D. |last14=Johansen-Berg |first14=H. }}</ref>