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Medical Definition of Central gray substance
1. In general: the predominantly small-celled gray matter adjoining or surrounding the central canal of the spinal cord and the third and fourth ventricles of the brainstem, in particular: the thick sleeve of gray matter surrounding the cerebral sylvian aqueduct in the midbrain, rostrally continuous with the posterior nucleus of the hypothalamus; in sections stained for myelin it stands out from the adjoining tectum and tegmentum by the poverty of its myelinated fibres. Synonym: substantia grisea centralis. (05 Mar 2000)