AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Your thalamus has many functions, including: Relaying sensory information. Taking in information, in the form of nerve signals, from all of your senses (taste, touch, hearing, seeing), except smell, into your brain.

Detailed explanation-2: -Smell bypasses the thalamus, which Dalton calls the ‘consciousness detector. ‘ “(It goes) directly to the primary olfactory cortex, and that may be why we experience odors in a different way than we do other kinds of sensory stimuli, ” Dalton said.

Detailed explanation-3: -In all senses except for the olfactory sense, the thalamus is known to be involved in various functions ranging from basic sensory information to attention modulation.

Detailed explanation-4: -The thalamus filters through information between the brain and the body. Every sensory function, except for olfaction (sense of smell) has a thalamic nucleus that receives, processes, and transmits information to associated areas within the cerebral cortex.

Detailed explanation-5: -The thalamus is composed of different nuclei that each serve a unique role, ranging from relaying sensory and motor signals, as well as regulation of consciousness and alertness.