I often see this take, but the apt comparison is between parameter and synapse count, not neuron count. You should be counting hidden units rather than weights if you want to compare to neuron counts.
I often see this take, but the apt comparison is between parameter and synapse count, not neuron count. You should be counting hidden units rather than weights if you want to compare to neuron counts.
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.