The part of the brain which is being compared to a switchboard is the thalamus.
Thalamus is termed as the large mass which has gray matter and it is found in the dorsal part which is in the diencephalon in the brain.
Thalamus controls alertness, sleep, consciousness, and relay of sensory signals.
It is situated in the midbrain and cerebral cortex. It supplies blood into the arteries. Thalamus is the structure which is structured in ventral thalamus, epithalamus, and hypothalamus.