Academia

Chicago, Illinois

University of Chicago

The first mathematical model of a neuron was written here — the 1943 paper every neural network in this catalog inherits from.

1 key findings1 timeline milestones1 sources to follow

Key findings

  1. 1943

    A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity

    Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts

    Modelled a neuron as a threshold logic unit and proved that networks of them can compute any propositional function.

    Why it matters here · The origin point of the entire field: the artificial neuron, unchanged in principle, is still the unit inside every model tracked on this site.

    y = 1 if Σ wᵢxᵢ ≥ θOriginal paper (1943)

On the history timeline

Milestones on the 1943 → today timeline credited to this institution.

  • 1943A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous ActivityWarren McCulloch & Walter PittsFoundations

What to follow