Cerebrosides are important constituents of brain, where they amount to 8% of the solid matter. These may also occur in tissues other than brain. Since the head group consists of one or more sugar units, cerebrosides are often called glycosphingosides. In Gaucher disease, the cerebrosides appear in relatively large amount in the liver and spleen. They are present in large amount in the brain in Niemann–Pick disease. They also occur in some plant organs.