In this paper, we describe an analog very large-scale integration (VLSI) implementation of a wide range Euclidean distance computation circuit - the key element of many synapse circuits. This circuit is essentially a wide-range absolute value circuit that is designed to be as small as possible (80 /spl times/ 76 /spl mu/m) in order to achieve maximum synapse density while maintaining a wide range of operation (0.5 to 4.5 V) and low power consumption (less than 200 /spl mu/W). The circuit has been fabricated in 1.5-/spl mu/m technology through MOSIS. We present simulated and experimental results of the circuit, and compare these results. Ultimately, this circuit is intended for use as part of a high-density hardware implementation of a self-organizing map (SOM). We describe how this circuit can be used as part of the SOM and how the SOM is going to be used as part of a larger bio-inspired vision system based on the octopus visual system.