> I think you should compare synapse and weight counts if you want a measure of the network's state/capacity. If you want something closer to its compute power, compare neurons and hidden units.
Even this is far too simple.
1-Astrocytes have processes (extensions) with localized calcium wave signaling as well as global cell calcium wave signaling that is involved in computation of some types of sensory inputs
2-Astrocytes detect and produce neuro-transmitters as well as glial-transmitters (and generally control/influence the synapses between neurons)
3-Neurons have tunneling nanotubes that dynamically connect cells together (on short time scales) and can transfer proteins, calcium (action potentials), etc.
4-Some types of neurons have natural resonance properties which impacts their function and processing of inputs
5-Some types of neurons learn input patterns in isolation (purkinje cells), meaning one single neuron can learn a time series of input and respond appropriately when pattern detected
etc.
There is a long list of interesting and unknown capabilities, it's pretty difficult to compare neurons+cells to an ANN at this point, too much unknown.
Even this is far too simple.
1-Astrocytes have processes (extensions) with localized calcium wave signaling as well as global cell calcium wave signaling that is involved in computation of some types of sensory inputs
2-Astrocytes detect and produce neuro-transmitters as well as glial-transmitters (and generally control/influence the synapses between neurons)
3-Neurons have tunneling nanotubes that dynamically connect cells together (on short time scales) and can transfer proteins, calcium (action potentials), etc.
4-Some types of neurons have natural resonance properties which impacts their function and processing of inputs
5-Some types of neurons learn input patterns in isolation (purkinje cells), meaning one single neuron can learn a time series of input and respond appropriately when pattern detected
etc.
There is a long list of interesting and unknown capabilities, it's pretty difficult to compare neurons+cells to an ANN at this point, too much unknown.