Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), however, now posit that Crick may have been incorrect: They developed a new theory ?" built on data ?" that the claustrum behaves more like a high-speed internet router, taking in executive commands from "boss" areas of the brain's cortex that forms complex thoughts to generate "networks" in the cortex. Acting like a router, the claustrum coordinates these networks to work together to accomplish the many different cognitively demanding tasks we perform on a moment-to-moment basis in everyday life. Understanding how the brain forms and coordinates these networks in the cortex through the claustrum is important, since disorganized networks are a typical feature across many disorders, such as addiction, Alzheimer's disease, and schizophrenia. This insight may help lead to better therapies to address cognitive dysfunction in these disorders.