A robotic baby harp seal is the subject of a study into the treatment of dementia.

Responding to voice, touch and light, the seal has been used in Japan providing the benefits of animal care where real animals could not.

400 patients in 30 aged care facilities will be part of a study by Queensland’s Griffith Health Institute who aim to prove the cost-effectiveness of the robot seal.

In a pilot last year, it was found the seal lowered anxiety and improved the mood of dementia sufferers.

“With an extended research team, we will be assessing emotional states in participants such as agitation, using measures including video observation and assessment of physiological responses,” said GHI’s Professor Wendy Moyle.

“If for example, we are able to show that we can reduce psychotropic medication to a patient by 10 per cent then that would be a fantastic result with direct cost benefits.”

In other good news for those in aged care, researchers have determined that three quarters of those over 70 with mild cognitive dysfunction (people who regularly misplace objects for instance), returned to normal health within a few years.

It meant that such problems were not always the first signs of dementia.

Professor Sachdev from the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing at the University of NSW said that the findings “suggests having cognitive problems may not necessarily lead to decline and there may be certain things you could do to stave off decline for longer."

Regular exercise – both physical and mental – was a governing factor in ensuring good health and ageing well.