Motivation: Prior research has primarily focused on overall brain atrophy and white matter hyperintensities. Goal(s): To evaluate the gray-white matter junction tissue volume (gwJTV) damage in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) patients with and without carotid plaque and its association with several metabolism-related biomarkers. Approach: A cross-sectional study of 69 T2D patients with (36) or without (33) asymptomatic atherosclerosis was conducted by evaluating the metabolic biomarkers and the gwJTV . Results: gwJTV was particularly sensitive to changes in these biomarkers. Higher brain tissue volumes were found in participants without plaque compared to those with plaque. Impact: This study contributes to the field of diabetes and neuroimaging by introducing the concept of gwJTV as a new MRI measure for evaluating brain tissue integrity in T2D patients.