What is Neural Network?

Neural Netrworks are considered to be a prominent component of futuristic Artificial Intelligence. Currently the phrase Neural networks is synonymous with Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) whose working concept is similar to that of Human Nervous System, and hence the name.

In Human body, Neural Networks are the building blocks of the Nervous System which controls and coordinates the different human activities.

Neural network consists of a group of neurons (nerve cells) interconnected with each other to carry out a specific function. Each neuron or a nerve cell is constituted by a cell body call Cyton and a fiber called Axon. The neurons are interconnected by the fibrous structures called dendrites by the help of special gapped connections called synapses. The electric impulses (called Action Potentials) are used to transmit information from neuron to neuron throughout the network.

An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is basically an information processing system composed of a large number of interconnected processing elements (neurons) working in an integrated manner to solve specific problems. An ANN is devised for specific applications, such as pattern recognition or data classification, through a learning process.

Artificial Neurons are similar to their biological counter parts. The input connections of the artificial neurons are summed up to determine the strength of their output, which is the result of the sum being fed into an activation function, the most common being the Sigmoid Activation Function which gives output varying between 0 (for low input values) and 1 (for high input values). The resultant of this function is then passed as the input to other neurons through more connections, each of which are weighted and these weights determine the behavior of the network.