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Demystifying neural networks

Let's start this section by finding the answers to the question, “Why are neural networks called 'neural'?”. What is the significance behind this term?

Our intuition says that it has something to do with our brains, which is correct, but only partially. Before we get to the reason why it is only partially correct, we need to have some familiarity with the structure of a brain. For this purpose, let's look at the anatomy of our own brains.

A human brain is composed of approximately 10 billion neurons, each connected to about 10,000 other neurons, which gives it a network-like structure. The inputs to the neurons are called dendrites and the outputs are called axons. The body of a neuron is called a soma. So, on ...