What Is Artificial Neural Network

What is Artificial Neural Network?
Artificial Neural Network ANN is an efficient computing system whose central theme is
borrowed from the analogy of biological neural networks. ANNs are also named as
“artificial neural systems,” or “parallel distributed processing systems,” or “connectionist
systems.” ANN acquires a large collection of units that are interconnected in some
pattern to allow communication between the units. These units, also referred to as nodes
or neurons, are simple processors which operate in parallel.
Every neuron is connected with other neuron through a connection link. Each connection
link is associated with a weight that has information about the input signal. This is the
most useful information for neurons to solve a particular problem because the weight
usually excites or inhibits the signal that is being communicated. Each neuron has an
internal state, which is called an activation signal. Output signals, which are produced
after combining the input signals and activation rule, may be sent to other units.
A Brief History of ANN

The history of ANN can be divided into the following three eras −
ANN during 1940s to 1960s

Some key developments of this era are as follows −
 1943 − It has been assumed that the concept of neural network started with the
work of physiologist, Warren McCulloch, and mathematician, Walter Pitts, when
in 1943 they modeled a simple neural network using electrical circuits in order to
describe how neurons in the brain might work.
 1949 − Donald Hebb’s book, The Organization of Behavior, put forth the fact that
repeated activation of one neuron by another increases its strength each time
they are used.
 1956 − An associative memory network was introduced by Taylor.
 1958 − A learning method for McCulloch and Pitts neuron model named
Perceptron was invented by Rosenblatt.
 1960 − Bernard Widrow and Marcian Hoff developed models called "ADALINE"
and “MADALINE.”
ANN during 1960s to 1980s

 1961 − Rosenblatt made an unsuccessful attempt but proposed the
“backpropagation” scheme for multilayer networks.
 1964 − Taylor constructed a winner-take-all circuit with inhibitions among output
units.
 1969 − Multilayer perceptron MLPMLP was invented by Minsky and Papert.
 1971 − Kohonen developed Associative memories.
 1976 − Stephen Grossberg and Gail Carpenter developed Adaptive resonance
theory.
ANN from 1980s till Present

 1982 − The major development was Hopfield’s Energy approach.
 1985 − Boltzmann machine was developed by Ackley, Hinton, and Sejnowski.
 1986 − Rumelhart, Hinton, and Williams introduced Generalised Delta Rule.
 1988 − Kosko developed Binary Associative Memory BAMBAM and also gave
the concept of Fuzzy Logic in ANN.
The historical review shows that significant progress has been made in this field. Neural
network based chips are emerging and applications to complex problems are being
developed. Surely, today is a period of transition for neural network technology.
Biological Neuron
A nerve cell neuron is a special biological cell that processes information. According to
an estimation, there are huge number of neurons, approximately 10 11 with numerous
interconnections, approximately 1015.
Schematic Diagram
Working of a Biological Neuron

As shown in the above diagram, a typical neuron consists of the following four parts with
the help of which we can explain its working −
 Dendrites − they are tree-like branches, responsible for receiving the information
from other neurons it is connected to. In other sense, we can say that they are
like the ears of neuron.
 Soma − It is the cell body of the neuron and is responsible for processing of
information, they have received from dendrites.
 Axon − It is just like a cable through which neurons send the information.
 Synapses − It is the connection between the axon and other neuron dendrites.
ANN versus BNN
Before taking a look at the differences between Artificial Neural Network ANNANN and
Biological Neural Network BNNBNN, let us take a look at the similarities based on the
terminology between these two.
Biological Neural Network BNNBNN Artificial Neural Network ANNANN
Soma Node
Dendrites Input
Synapse Weights or Interconnections
Axon Output
The following table shows the comparison between ANN and BNN based on some
criteria mentioned.
Criteria BNN ANN
Processing Massively parallel, Massively parallel, fast but inferior than BNN
slow but superior than
ANN
Size 1011 neurons and 102 to 104 nodes mainly

depends on the type of
1015 interconnections application and network designer mainly
depends on The Type of application And Network
designer
Learning They can tolerate Very precise, structured and formatted data is
ambiguity required to tolerate ambiguity
Fault Performance degrades It is capable of robust performance, hence has the

tolerance with even partial potential to be fault tolerant
damage
Storage Stores the information Stores the information in continuous memory

capacity in the synapse locations
Model of Artificial Neural Network

The following diagram represents the general model of ANN followed by its processing.
For the above general model of artificial neural network, the net input can be calculated
as follows −

What Is Artificial Neural Network

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What is Artificial Neural Network?

A Brief History of ANN

ANN during 1940s to 1960s

ANN during 1960s to 1980s

ANN from 1980s till Present

Working of a Biological Neuron

ANN versus BNN

Synapse Weights or Interconnections

Criteria BNN ANN

Size 1011 neurons and 102 to 104 nodes mainly

Fault Performance degrades It is capable of robust performance, hence has the

Storage Stores the information Stores the information in continuous memory

Model of Artificial Neural Network

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