Patent US 7,814,038

In an artificial neural network a method and neuron device that produce weight-adjustment factors, also called error values (116), for pre-synaptic neurons (302a . . . 302c) that are used to adjust the values of connection weights (106 . . . 106n) in neurons (100) used in artificial neural networks (ANNs). The amount of influence a pre-synaptic neuron has had over a post-synaptic neuron is calculated during signal propagation in the post-synaptic neuron (422a . . . 422n) and accumulated for the pre-synaptic neuron (426) for each post-synaptic neuron to which the pre-synaptic neuron's output is connected (428). Influence values calculated for use by pre-synaptic neurons may further be modified by the post-synaptic neuron's output value (102) (option 424), and its error value (116) (option 1110).