NEUROEDUCATION AND MENTAL HEALTH IN HIGHER EDUCATION: THE ROLE OF ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS IN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. A BIBLIOMETRIC ANÁLISIS

Abstract

In the past two decades, the intersection of neuroscience, education, and mental health has given rise to an emerging field of research known as neuroeducation, which seeks to understand how brain processes influence learning and the academic performance of university students. Moreover, the increasing complexity of educational contexts has highlighted the need to integrate interdisciplinary perspectives that bring together psychology, pedagogy, and biomedical sciences. The present study aims to address the question: What trends emerge from the co-occurrence network of terms in the scientific literature on neuroeducation and mental health in higher education, and how are these trends related to the role of addictive behaviors in academic performance? To this end, a bibliometric co-occurrence network analysis was conducted on 2,213 terms defined by 4,258 authors. The results reveal four relevant clusters: Cluster 1: Neurobiological and genetic foundations of learning and mental health; Cluster 2: Neurocognitive processes and memory mechanisms in learning; Cluster 3: Neuroimaging and cognitive decline in the study of brain health; and Cluster 4: Psychoeducational interventions and digital technologies for mental health and learning. These findings open new research gaps, where scholars, through the application of quantitative techniques such as structural equation modeling, may generate novel constructs of knowledge