McCulloch and Pitts neuron model

McCulloch and Pitts described a neuron as a threshold logic element.

Why it matters

It showed that networks of simple elements can carry out logical operations, and gave a formal language for describing nervous activity.

The model says nothing about learning: its connection weights are given rather than acquired.

Event date

December 1943

Timeline date

Event date

Verification

Checked against the source by a person · September 30, 2026

Lines

ID

evt-0054

primary A logical calculus of the ideas immanent in nervous activity
The Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics · Published December 1943
archive A logical calculus of the ideas immanent in nervous activity (scan of the article, Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics, vol. 5)
California State University, Long Beach (course reading; scan of the Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics) · Published 1943

Related Behavior, Purpose and Teleology 1943links to this record
Both 1943 papers describe behaviour mechanically, one through the logic of a neuron, the other through feedback.

Related Hebb's learning rule 1949links to this record
Two early approaches to describing a neuron: a logic element and a changeable connection strength.
Related Perceptron 1958
The perceptron added a learning procedure to the formal neuron.

An explainer video, not a source for this record.