Not the biological ones, though I’m sure there is a correlation.
In: Engineering
Starting with a biological neuron to explain why “neural networks” are named that: A biological neuron is a cell that receives an input, namely by having molecules known as neurotransmitters bind to their receptors. When they receive a strong enough input (i.e. having enough neurotransmitters bind to their receptors), they fire off an electrical signal down the length of their axon (a very long part of the neuron’s body), eventually releasing more neurotransmitters at the very end.
In computing, a neural network shares some of these features: it has nodes (which act like the network’s neuron) which receive an input (as a number, instead of as neurotransmitters binding to their receptors) and then pass a signal (again, as a number) onto other nodes in the network. Instead of axons carrying a signal from the central body of the neuron over to another neuron, you simply have connections between nodes.
Both kinds of neural network work in the same, very general way: you have tiny, discrete units of processing which listen for signals, and, based on the signal they receive, send a signal further down the network, either to activate or inhibit further neurons/nodes. Each node/neuron can be thought of as “looking” for something from the input to help the network as a whole determine what the output should be.
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