Understanding how the brain computes information requires a deep understanding of how neuronal types within specified circuits are connected, as well as a detailed description of the functional properties of those connections.
Recent advances in molecular, neurochemical, and/or anatomical techniques have led to an explosion in the number of known excitatory and inhibitory neuronal types in any given region of the brain, emphasizing the challenge of any endeavor to understand computations. 

In this seminar, I will describe how we have approached this problem in the retina, where we have focussed on a single neural circuit: the direction-selective circuit. I will discuss how connectomic studies combined with single synapse functional analysis can be used to provide an unprecedently detailed view of how activity from diverse cell types is combined to compute specific information. 

Specifically, I will highlight 1) how the kinetic properties of distinct glutamatergic bipolar cells that are arranged stereotypically along the radiating dendrites of GABAergic/cholinergic starburst amacrine cells, contribute to their direction selectivity. 2) How the starburst amacrine cell, in turn, drives direction selectivity in downstream ganglion cells, relying on high synapse specificity and distinct spatiotemporal profiles of GABA and cholinergic transmission.