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Review of Placebo movement controlled trial of effects of Brain Gym in the classroom by Beigel et al, 2002.

 This was an independent study by researchers from the University of Geissen, Germany. They carried out an eight-week study on the effects of Brain Gym on reading and comprehension.

18 eight-year-old schoolchildren with reading difficulties were divided into three randomly assigned groups of six students each:

a play group (random movements),

a psychomotoric group (specific, traditional movements for sensorimotor integration),

and a Brain Gym movement group.

The three groups received a like amount of attention. Each group did 15 minutes of movement daily. The Brain Gym movement group did the four PACE movements (Water, Brain Buttons, the Cross Crawl, and Hook-ups) along with Earth Buttons, Space Buttons, and Dennison Laterality Repatterning. (The rest of the 26 Brain Gym movements were used only on some days).

Each week, students from the University of Giessen, Germany, examined all groups in reading proficiency. Pre- and post-testing included a timed reading of text material, with the number of errors noted, as well as the filling out (by parents and teachers) of questionnaires.