The thalamus has many functions. First of all, it acts as a relay station, or hub. It relays information between subcortical areas and the cerebral cortex. In particular, every sensory system except smelling) has a thalamic nucleus that receives sensory signals and sends them to the related areas in the cortex. For sight, for example, inputs from the retina are sent to the thalamus, which in turn sends them to the visual cortex in the occipital lobe.