I think it's a bit more than looking at different steps, it's about what's fundamental architecturally vs. not. The synaptic side is saying the internals aren't

I think it's a bit more than looking at different steps, it's about what's fundamental architecturally vs. not. The synaptic side is saying the internals aren't fundamental, in the same sense that you can have ANN's that are nothing but weights and connections. Gallistel is saying the weights and connections aren't fundamental, or at least trivial compared to a state-storing/state-processing machinery inside. Maybe both exist, but either one being more fundamental or important than the other is a salient conceptional difference.