How Eye Movements Can Help Improve Speech in Parkinson’s
When we think about Parkinson’s disease, we often focus on movement symptoms like tremors, freezing, or balance issues. But many people also experience speech difficulties, such as soft voice, slurred words, or delayed timing. What’s surprising is that eye movements—specifically the way we track, shift, and fix our gaze—can directly influence how the brain controls speech and facial expression. For people with Parkinson’s, training the eyes may also mean improving communication.
Here’s why: eye movements and speech share overlapping brain networks. Regions like the frontal cortex, brainstem, and basal ganglia are involved in both coordinating eye motion and planning speech. When these systems become less efficient due to dopamine loss—as they do in Parkinson’s—it affects not only how we move, but how we speak. That’s why some people with Parkinson’s may have flat facial expressions or struggle to express emotion in their voice.
Research shows that coordinated eye movements can help synchronize brain activity across these shared circuits, reinforcing motor timing and rhythm. For example, when a person uses their eyes to follow a target or shift gaze rapidly, it activates areas responsible for both speech timing and facial engagement. In essence, eye movement exercises can stimulate the brain to fire in ways that support more expressive and fluid communication.
This is one of the hidden strengths of the BrainSpeed Ball®. As users track the ball with their eyes and call out the letters or numbers they see, they are actively engaging the visual-motor-speech loop—training their brain to coordinate eye movement with vocal expression. This dual-task training builds the brain’s ability to process, react, and speak all at once, which is especially valuable for people with Parkinson’s who want to maintain or restore their speech abilities.
By incorporating visual-vocal activities like BrainSpeed Ball® games into a daily routine, people with Parkinson’s can improve not just coordination, but also voice strength, clarity, and facial expression. The brain thrives on this kind of multisensory input—and with the right kind of training, it can learn new ways to support communication even in the face of degeneration.
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Sources:
Clark, H. M., Robin, D. A., McCullagh, P. J., & Schmidt, R. A. (2001). Motor control and learning: A behavioral emphasis on speech motor control. Journal of Communication Disorders, 34(6), 511–532. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9924(01)00064-2
Ackermann, H., & Riecker, A. (2010). The contribution of the insula to motor aspects of speech production: A review and a hypothesis. Brain and Language, 113(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2009.12.004