<p>There is a theory that one of the functions of the thalamus is to &quot;relay information between brain areas&quot;, e.g. to relay visual information to the visual cortex.</p>
<p>Just to check that I understand what this means: Does it simply mean to send information coming from a specific source to one fixed specific target? If so, why would that source not simply send the information to the target directly? What is the function of having the Thalamus inbetween as a middle man?</p>
<p>The only explanation I can come up with is that the thalamus can choose the target of the obtained information dynamically based on contextual information. An analogy would be a router, where an information packet is sent to a different target router depending on header information in the packet.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-24T21:32:05.777Z
I think this really boils down to "what is the function of the thalamus?" which is more of a many textbook answer. But I think it's firstly important to recognize that these are very difficult questions to answer experimentally, not just for the thalamus but for most brain regions. You can remove the thalamus (physically or temporarily with pharmacology) and this gives you some trivial answers like "thalamus is a relay" because you see no information getting through, but this doesn't really tell you what the thalamus *does*.
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-25T06:03:25.187Z
@BryanKrause, that is very understandable. I still think there is a valid question that is more simple to answer, which is: what do people *mean* in a precise technical sense when they say "the function is that of a relay"? E.g. it is not clear to me whether by "relay" they mean to simply wire the information forward in a fixed manner, or e.g. more to dynamically route it to variable targets based on context information, like an internet router, or something else. Or do you think that when people say "the thalamus is a relay" they don't even have anything specific enough in mind to say?
user56834
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-27T13:26:57.193Z
I think they don't have anything specific in mind *computationally*. They are instead conveying information about rough *order* (as a relay, thalamus must come between sensory organs and neocortex) and breadth (lots of different sensory information comes through thalamus rather than a single modality).
Bryan Krause
<neuroscience>
What is the function of thalamic relaying of information?
user56834
# What is the function of thalamic relaying of information?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-05-24)

There is a theory that one of the functions of the thalamus is to "relay information between brain areas", e.g. to relay visual information to the visual cortex.

Just to check that I understand what this means: Does it simply mean to send information coming from a specific source to one fixed specific target? If so, why would that source not simply send the information to the target directly? What is the function of having the Thalamus inbetween as a middle man?

The only explanation I can come up with is that the thalamus can choose the target of the obtained information dynamically based on contextual information. An analogy would be a router, where an information packet is sent to a different target router depending on header information in the packet.

**Tags:** neuroscience

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I think this really boils down to "what is the function of the thalamus?" which is more of a many textbook answer. But I think it's firstly important to recognize that these are very difficult questions to answer experimentally, not just for the thalamus but for most brain regions. You can remove the thalamus (physically or temporarily with pharmacology) and this gives you some trivial answers like "thalamus is a relay" because you see no information getting through, but this doesn't really tell you what the thalamus *does*.  
> **username_0**: @BryanKrause, that is very understandable. I still think there is a valid question that is more simple to answer, which is: what do people *mean* in a precise technical sense when they say "the function is that of a relay"? E.g. it is not clear to me whether by "relay" they mean to simply wire the information forward in a fixed manner, or e.g. more to dynamically route it to variable targets based on context information, like an internet router, or something else. Or do you think that when people say "the thalamus is a relay" they don't even have anything specific enough in mind to say?  
> **username_1**: I think they don't have anything specific in mind *computationally*. They are instead conveying information about rough *order* (as a relay, thalamus must come between sensory organs and neocortex) and breadth (lots of different sensory information comes through thalamus rather than a single modality).  

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