Effects of robot therapy for demented patients evaluated by EEG

Abstract

Robot therapy for demented patients was conducted at a cranial nerve clinic. Two therapeutic seal robots, Paro, were introduced there. This paper describes the results of this experiment. DIMENSION (diagnosis method of neuronal dysfunction) was used to analyze recorded patient's EEG before and after 20 minutes of robot therapy. Questionnaire concerning impression of seal robots was also conducted. The results showed that their cortical neurons activity was improved by interaction with the seal robots, especially for patients who liked the robots.