Published: Thursday, 25th June, 2009 12:00pm

Brain buster ... Largs man wins international award

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An award winning Largs man has found the perfect formula to help scientists understand how the brain works.

Mr Mark Girolami, who grew up locally, has recently won a Pioneering award from the International Society for Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) in recognition of the contribution his research has had on revolutionising the analysis of signals and images measured by neuroscientists from the brain.

Mark is a former member of Largs Round Table, Largs Boys Brigade and attended Largs Academy, and is now a leading light in statistical research to help neuro scientists around the world study how the brain works.

He is a Professor in the Computing Science department at Glasgow University and leads a team which looks at probability formulae providing a valuable tool for scientists in terms of neurological science, cancer research and heart disease, while also helping technological advances in terms of enhancing audio and video equipment.

The University of Glasgow website states: 'The award acknowledges the impact of Girolami"s work related to a statistical transformation called Independent Component Analysis (ICA), on signal processing in general and neurobiological signal processing in particular.

'Based on the methods and algorithms he developed, neuroscientists are now able to isolate particular regions or modes of brain activity in their study of the brain.