The processes sensory information from all the senses (with the exception of smell) before transmitting it to the cerebral cortex.
accessory structure
sensory nerve
brain
thalamus

The thalamus is a structure which processes all sensory information from the different senses before it transmits it into the cerebral cortex. It does this because the thalamus acts sorts of a relay station where all the information arrives and goes further on towards the other areas of the brain.