Neuroeducational strategies in early childhood education: Bibliometric analysis of methodological and thematic trends
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22167383Keywords:
neuroeducation, early childhood education, executive functions, learning, bibliometric analysisAbstract
Neuroeducation brings together contributions from neuroscience, psychology, and pedagogy, but its application in early childhood education is often presented as a homogeneous field despite the diversity of designs, strategies, and outcomes studied. In this context, the objective of this study was to methodologically and thematically characterize recent scientific production on neuroeducational strategies related to learning in children aged 0 to 6 years and in early childhood educators. To this end, a documentary, observational, and cross-sectional study was conducted, with descriptive bibliometric analysis and quantitative content analysis. Through seven reproducible queries in OpenAlex, 687 records published between January 2022 and August 25, 2026, were retrieved. After deduplication and filtering by relevance, a corpus of 44 publications was established. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for year, design, population, strategy, and outcome. Of the studies, 84.1% provided original empirical data, 68.2% collected direct data from children, and 40.9% involved experimental or quasi-experimental interventions. The most frequent categories were executive functions and multisensory/technological resources (20.5% each). The evaluated outcomes focused on multiple outcomes (29.5%) and executive functions (20.5%). Play-based, motor, musical, mindfulness, and technological interventions reported specific benefits; however, methodological heterogeneity prevents establishing an overall effect of neuroeducation. It is concluded that the field is progressing toward applied evidence, although it requires standardized measures, longitudinal follow-up, reporting of effect sizes, and teacher training capable of distinguishing neuroscientific principles from neuromyths.
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