A neuron in an artificial neural network performs a ______________ operation followed by an activation function to produce an output.

A neuron in an artificial neural network performs a "weighted sum" operation followed by an activation function to produce an output.

Here are the steps:

1. Each input is multiplied by a weight: The neuron receives one or more inputs. Each input comes with a weight which can be thought of as the importance of the input. The weight amplifies or attenuates the input.

2. Summation: The results of these multiplications (from step 1) are then added together to produce a single number, which is the weighted sum.

3. Apply an activation function: This weighted sum is then passed through an activation function. The purpose of the activation function is to transform the input signal into an output signal and attach non-linearity to the network. It decides whether a neuron should be activated or not by calculating the weighted sum and further adding bias with it.

4. Output: The result of the activation function is the final output of the neuron. This output can then serve as input to neurons in the next layer of the network.