 These nuclei are the mechanism of the relay of information from the thalamus to the cortex.The thalamus itself is highly diverse, with each nucleus having distinct morphologies and physiologies according to the region of the brain to which it is connected.These differences are thought to originate in differential gene expression in the thalamus and prethalamus, which allows for a single structure with multiple different and separate functions once the two have merged and completed growth and differentiation.