Synapses That Compute Motion

Abstract

Biophysics of computation is a new field that attempts to characterize the role in information processing of the several biophysical mechanisms in neurons, synapses, and membranes that have been uncovered in recent years. In this article, we review a synaptic mechanism, based on the interaction between excitation and silent inhibition, that implements a veto-like operation. Synapses of this type may underlie direction selectivity to direction of motion in the vertebrate retina.