Differences in the viscoelastic features of white and grey matter in tension.

Owing to its higher stiffness, white matter can absorb more energy than grey matter at strain rates of 0.025, 0.15 and 0.25 /s in tension. The reverse trend was observed at low strain rate (0.005 /s) due to the enhanced interactions between biomolecules in white matter, which may originate from the presence of strong polar groups and the stronger hydrogen bonding, as evidenced by differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer spectra.