Why Training Eye Movements Can Boost Reading, Focus, and Classroom Behavior
When we talk about executive function in schools—attention, working memory, self-regulation—we’re usually thinking about the brain. But there’s a surprising piece of that puzzle that often gets missed: the eyes.
Eye movements—how students shift, track, and fixate their gaze—play a critical role in how they process information, regulate attention, and make sense of the classroom around them. And research shows they can be trained, just like memory or math facts.
“We’re not talking about vision problems. We’re talking about visual attention—how efficiently the eyes and brain coordinate to take in and organize information,” explains Dr. Joaquin Anguera, cognitive neuroscientist at UCSF and Mastermind advisor. “When that system is weak, learning gets harder across the board.”
Put simply: If you want better executive function, you may need to start with eye function.
Eye Movements Are a Hidden Lever in Learning
Three types of eye movements drive many foundational learning tasks:
- Saccades – rapid jumps between fixed points (e.g., moving from word to word while reading)
- Pursuits – smooth tracking of moving objects (e.g., following a teacher’s pointer on a whiteboard)
- Fixations – brief moments where the eyes pause to take in visual information
Together, these functions underpin the ability to read fluently, sustain attention, copy accurately, and maintain spatial awareness. But when they’re underdeveloped—which is common in students with ADHD, dyslexia, or learning delays—these micro-skills can snowball into broader academic and behavioral issues.
Research Connects Eye Movements to Reading and Behavior
Multiple third-party studies reinforce what teachers see every day:
- Children with poor saccadic control are significantly more likely to lose their place while reading, skip lines, or struggle with comprehension. A 2016 study published in Developmental Neuropsychology found that poor readers showed significantly more saccadic dysfunction than their peers.
- Smooth pursuit impairments have been associated with difficulty copying from the board, reduced focus, and even misdiagnosed behavior issues. Research in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that visual pursuit deficits often appear in students flagged for attention problems—even when no formal diagnosis exists.
- Fixation control has been tied to working memory, processing speed, and reading comprehension. One study published in Neuropsychologia found that students with poor fixation stability showed reduced word recognition and lower scores on reading recall tasks.
The takeaway? Eye movement efficiency isn’t just a visual issue—it’s an executive function issue. And strengthening these systems may improve not just how students read, but how they behave, attend, and learn.
Mastermind’s Approach: Train the Brain Through the Eyes
At Mastermind, eye movement training is baked into the foundation of every session—through short, targeted exercises designed to strengthen the core visual-cognitive systems students rely on every day. These exercises include:
- Near-far convergence (focus shifting)
- Saccade drills
- Smooth pursuit tracking
- Optokinetic response stabilization
- Fixation control under time pressure
These aren’t abstract tasks—they’re game-based, adaptive, and embedded in a larger training system that builds attention, working memory, and task-switching capacity. In short: a full-stack approach to executive function.
And the results speak for themselves.
Measurable Gains in Reading, Focus, and Behavior
In a large randomized controlled trial of 168 UK students, ages 8–10, the Mastermind cognitive training program led to:
- Statistically significant improvements in saccades, pursuits, and fixations (p = .001), as measured by RightEye eye-tracking assessments
- Improved teacher-rated attention using Vanderbilt surveys (p = .012), even when teachers didn’t know which students were receiving the intervention
- Correlated improvements in reading fluency tied to gains in eye movement and attention, especially in the VR training group (r = .34, p = .018)
“This isn’t a side effect—it’s central to the design,” said Dr. Anastasia Giannakopoulou, lead researcher on the UK study. “We trained visual attention, and we saw direct improvements in how students focused, read, and responded in class.”
For Educators: Why It Matters Now
We know that executive function is one of the strongest predictors of academic and life success. We also know that post-pandemic, more students are struggling with attention, self-regulation, and classroom readiness than ever before.
The good news? These are trainable skills. And targeting visual attention—through eye movement exercises integrated with broader cognitive training—offers a high-leverage, research-backed way to help students build the mental capacity to learn.
For schools, this means:
- Improved reading fluency and comprehension
- Better behavior and attention outcomes
- Scalable support for students with and without IEPs
- Tools that are device-flexible and easy to implement across classrooms
One Last Thought
Teachers don’t need more theory. They need tools that help kids grow.
Eye movement training isn’t the full answer—but it’s a critical, overlooked starting point. And for students who’ve been slipping through the cracks—especially those not flagged for intervention—it can make the difference between staying behind and catching up.