Yes, calling something "the functional equivalent of the synapse" implies you know the function of a synapse... The memristor has some functional properties in

Yes, calling something "the functional equivalent of the synapse" implies you know the function of a synapse... The memristor has some functional properties in common with some synapses. Neither synapses nor memristors have been fully characterized (though probably the memristor is better understood at this point). The function of synapses in memory formation and information processing is poorly understood, but maybe having a nanoscale electronics component (memristor) that has some synapse-like attributes will increase the size of simulations to the degree that they will make interesting, testable predictions about how neural circuits work.