Interactive Companion Robot for Preventing Neuro-Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer's and Other Dementias

ABSTRACTThe prevalence of Alzheimerandapos s diseaseADis increasing worldwideplacing enormous burdens on
healthcare providerspatients and caregiversMany new treatments are in development and the consensus is
that most interventions will need to be initiated as early in the disease progression as possibleAdvanced
Brain MonitoringABMhas developed sensitive non invasive EEG biomarkers for early detection of
Alzheimerandapos s and evaluating treatment outcomesThe biomarkers are in use in drug trials and are being
validated longitudinally in a large population of patients with Alzheimerandapos s diseaseMild Cognitive
ImpairmentMCIand healthy controlsPatients with MCI are particularly interesting as potential targets for
early intervention as MCI is often a transitional state between normal aging and dementiaThis proposal introduces a novelsocially assistive robotSARprotocol designed with the goal of
slowing the progression of cognitive decline in patients with MCIThe team combines ABMandapos syear
success in implementing real time neuro sensing and dementia biomarkers with academic and commercial
expertise in robot behavioral intervention designDrMaja MataricUSC ProfessorDrCory KiddCEO
and founderCatalia Healthand DrSchneiderUSC Professorwill work with ABM to enable the Mabu
robot to interact with participants in their homes and influence healthy habitsCatalia demonstrated that the
Mabu software use of artificial intelligence to encourage social interaction improves medical adherenceThis
project will develop a SAR mediated intervention for elderly users and MCI patientsMabu will interact
with participants in their homes to encourage and monitor the formation of healthy habits involving physical
activityspecifically walking regularlyABMandapos s mobile EEG sensing systems will be used to assess dementia
biomarkers preand post robot intervention and during initial and final human robot interactionsproviding
real time metrics including engagementworkloadstressand other measures of interactions between human
and robotThe SAR is envisioned as a complementary approach that will support and enhance any combination
of therapeutic interventions for dementiaThe team envisions multi stage user robot interactions aimed atincreasing physical activityenhancing cognitive skillsproviding motivationincreasing well being and
improving quality of lifeThe Phase I focus is on increasing physical activity using the robot as a coach for a
small cohorthealthy elderlyMCI patientsselected from the ongoing ABM dementia biomarker
studyPhysical exercise is selected based on the specific evidence that increased activity can delay or slow
cognitive declineThe Mabu robot will interact with participants twice daily in their homes forweeks to
encourage them to be more active Project NarrativeThis project addresses the worldwide demand for novel intervention approaches to Alzheimerandapos s
diseaseADand other dementias introducing a novelsocially assistive robotSARprotocol designed with
the goal of slowing the progression of cognitive decline in patients with mild cognitive impairmentThe
SAR is envisioned as a complementary approach that will support and enhance any combination of
therapeutic interventions for dementiaIf successfulthe SAR intervention in combination with Advanced
Brain Monitoringandapos s objective EEG sleep and daytime dementia biomarkers has the potential to assist patients
in living healthier and more productive livesmaintaining independence for longer periods of timeand
removing some burden from caregivers