What is a neural network?
Neural Networks are a different paradigm for computing:
von Neumann machines are based on the processing/memory abstraction of human information processing.
neural networks are based on the parallel architecture of animal brains.
Neural networks are a form of multiprocessor computer system, with
simple processing elements
a high degree of interconnection
simple scalar messages
adaptive interaction between elements
A biological neuron may have as many as 10,000 different inputs, and may send its output (the presence or absence of a short-duration spike) to many other neurons. Neurons are wired up in a 3-dimensional pattern.
Real brains, however, are orders of magnitude more complex than any artificial neural network so far considered.