Does eye contact improve attention and learning?
This is a great question on a highly fascinating topic for which evidence seemingly abounds among many species. From the standpoint of an evolutionary approach, the fight or flight stress response would be informed based on eye contact and movement - gauging the level of activity present in a potential predator's facial attributes. 

Here is a cool link on the evolutionary aspect: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031938403001562 

Here is one on social signal processing as per the specific structure in the brain: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/15/9/598.short