Answer to Question 1
The two cerebral hemispheres connected by the corpus callosum (i.e., white matter in the center area that connects the two hemispheres and allows them to communicate with each other) consist of the neocortex otherwise known as the cerebral cortex and the white matter beneath it as well as the basal ganglia, the amygdala, and the hippocampus.
Answer to Question 2
The thalamus is an important sensory relay station that gates information from the sense organs (excluding olfactory) to the neocortex, the higher cortical regions of the brain associated with consciousness. When the thalamus opens the gate by increasing the signal to noise ratio or in other words by amplifying the signal to make it stand out against background noise, signal sensory information reaches conscious awareness in the higher center of the brain called the neocortex.
