Subcortical gray matter

Primarily from subcortical lacunes, white and/or deep gray matter lesions... 

Noworolski, S.M. et al., High spatial resolution H-MRSI and segmented MRI of cortical gray matter and subcortical white matter in three regions of the human brain, Magnet. Reson. Med., 41, 21, 1999. 

At autopsy, increased amounts of copper are mainly in the liver and in the basal ganglia. This abnormal accumulation of metal has been demonstrated chemically and histochemically. In the liver (see Fig. 3-10), there is usually a lobular cirrhosis with pseudolobules that can hardly be distinguished from those seen in nutritional cirrhosis. In the brain although lesions of the gray matter are the most conspicuous, the subcortical white matter may also be involved. 

Apart fi om certain liver cells, only macrophage derived cells are able to convert tryptophan into quinolonic acid (Saito et al., 1993). Interestingly, in a model of infection, the highest concentrations of quinolinic acid are found in the gray and white matter of the cortex, notin subcortical areas. High levels of quinolinic acid therefore may lead to cortical dysfunction (Heyes et al., 1998). 

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