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A pet-type robot Artificial Intelligence Robot-assisted therapy for a patient

with schizophrenia: Animal-assisted therapy with an AIBO

Article  in  Asia-Pacific Psychiatry · December 2016

DOI: 10.1111/appy.12233

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
A pet-type robot Artificial Intelligence Robot-assisted therapy
for a patient with schizophrenia
Correspondence
Nobuyo Ohtani PhD, Laboratory of Effective
Animals for Human Health, Department of
Animal Science and Biotechnology, Azabu
University School of Veterinary Medicine,
Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5201, Japan
Tel: +81-42-769-1930
Fax: +81-42-769-1930
Email: ohtani@azabu-u.ac.jp
DOI:10.1111/appy.12233
Dear Editor,
In a previous study, we showed that many Japanese
psychiatric patients (82.7%) like animals and know
about a pet-type robot, AIBO (SONY Corporation,
Tokyo, Japan) (Iwahashi et al., 2007). According to
Sung et al. (2015), we propose using a pet-type robot,
AIBO, to treat psychiatric patients including those
with schizophrenia.
After obtaining informed consent, we performed
the AIBO-assisted therapy for a patient with schizo-
phrenia (ICD-10, F20.x2) whose medication did not
change over the 8-week study period. The animal-
assisted therapy was performed by veterinarians and
medical staff, and a psychiatrist for about an hour
every Tuesday eight times for 2 months. The primary
outcome measure for the present study was a change
in the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the psy-
chiatrist rating the schizophrenic symptoms with Posi-
tive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) (Kay et al.,
1987; Grös et al., 2007). The AIBO-assisted therapy
sessions included playing ball games and petting
(touch). After all the eight sessions had finished, the
STAI interviews and PANSS rating were performed
again.
Case: A female patient with chronic schizophrenia
was depressive, with general psychopathology symp-
toms such as anxiety and motor retardation (54 years
old, 18 years of hospitalization). The anxiety, depres-
sion, and motor retardation scale values for general
psychopathology on the PANSS were 6, 5 and 6,
respectively, before the first session, and had improved
312
Official journal of the
Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists
Asia-Pacific Psychiatry ISSN 1758-5864
to 3, 3 and 3 by the 8th session of AIBO-assisted
therapy. Her A-state STAI score changed from 61 to
55. She said, “The first time, I did not like playing
because I was depressed and anxious. But I feel good
while playing with AIBO now. It heals my mind.”
The present study suggests that AIBO-assisted
therapy proved a successful tool for improving schizo-
phrenic negative and general psychopathological
symptoms, enhancing socialization, reducing loneli-
ness, and general well-being.
Acknowledgment
This research was supported by a research project
grant awarded by the Azabu University.
Shin Narita1 MS, Nobuyo Ohtani2* PhD,
Chikako Waga1 PhD, Mitsuaki Ohta2 PhD,
Jun Ishigooka3 MD PhD &
Kazuhiko Iwahashi1 MD PhD
1 Laboratory of Physiology, Neurophysiology Project,
Department of Medical Technology, School of Life and
Environmental Science, Azabu University,
Sagamihara, Japan
2 Laboratory of Effective Animals for Human Health,
Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology, Azabu
University School of Veterinary Medicine,
Sagamihara, Japan
3 Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Rheumatology,
Tokyo Women’s Medical University School of Medicine,
Tokyo, Japan
Asia-Pacific Psychiatry 8 (2016) 312– 313
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
S. Narita et al. Animal-assisted therapy with an AIBO

References Kay S.R., Fiszbein A., Opler L.A. (1987) The Positive
and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for
Grös D.F., Antony M.M., Simms L.J., McCabe R.E. schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 13(2), 261–276.
(2007) Psychometric properties of the State-Trait
Sung H.C., Chang S.M., Chin M.Y., Lee W.L. (2015)
Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety
Robot-assisted therapy for improving social
(STICSA): comparison to the State-Trait Anxiety
interactions and activity participation among
Inventory (STAI). Psychol Assess. 19(4), 369–381.
institutionalized older adults: a pilot study. Asia
Iwahashi K., Waga C., Ohta M. (2007) Questionnaire Pacific Psychiatry. 7(1), 1–6.
on animal-assisted therapy (AAT): the expectation
for AAT as a day-care program for Japanese
schizophrenic patients. Int J Psychiatry Clin Pract.
11(4), 291–293.

Asia-Pacific Psychiatry 8 (2016) 312– 313 313

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
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