To determine whether the thalamus mediates topographic representation of vestibular inputs, Fosimmunoreactive neurons activated by stimuli that mimic natural head turns were mapped in adult SD rats.Conscious rats were subjected to sinusoidal wobble rotations which activate hair cells of both canals and otolith organs as in daily head movements.Results were compared with those obtained with pure canal stimulation (angular acceleration) or otolith stimulation (linear acceleration).Otolithic stimulation activated neurons in 6 subnuclei,viz.centrolateral thalamic nuclei (CL), centromedial thalamic nucleus (CM), zonaincerta, mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD), paracentral thalamic nucleus (PC), and subparafascicular thalamic nucleus (SPF).MD, PC and SPF were also activated with canal stimulation.While all 6 subnuclei were activated by wobble rotations, Fos-positive neurons in CL, CM and PC showed several folds of increase.We demonstrate that synergistic input derived from integration of head velocity and direction signals enhances the recruitment of thalamic neurons for encoding spatiotemporal cues of balance.