Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42245912›Full record

ReviewAnnals of neurosciences2026

Cognitive Load in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: A Bibliometric Analysis (2021-2025).

Suraj Gupta, Badri Narayan Mishra, Rashmi Gore, Sandeep Kumar Singh, Anita Awasthi, Anurag Mishra, Ram Kishore, Vimal Singh

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Annals of neurosciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Suraj GuptaChhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9298-569X
Badri Narayan MishraChhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Rashmi GoreChhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Sandeep Kumar SinghChhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Anita AwasthiChhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Anurag MishraChhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Ram KishoreChhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Vimal SinghChhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3209-6057

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The integration of AI and digital learning technologies has transformed education but introduced cognitive overload challenges. Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) offers a framework for understanding information processing in technology-enhanced environments, yet its intellectual structure in the post-pandemic AI-driven landscape remains underexplored. Summary: This bibliometric analysis of 1,600 open-access CLT publications (2021-2025) from HYPERLINK "https://dimensions.ai/"Dimensions.ai examined publication trends, citation impact, collaboration patterns, and thematic clusters using VOSviewer. Results show 28% annual growth. Three clusters dominate (74% link strength): (a) Educational and Developmental Psychology (motivation, resilience, schema construction); (b) Clinical and Cognitive Sciences (cognitive interventions, well-being); and (c) Information and Computing in Human-centred Contexts (AI-driven adaptive learning). The USA, Australia, and UK lead in impact; Asia-Pacific (China, Singapore, Hong Kong) emerges as a technology-focused hub. Education and Information Technologies showed the highest mean citation rate. Key Message: This first bibliometric review maps CLT's post-2020 evolution toward human-AI symbiosis, providing an empirical framework for cognitively sustainable digital learning environments and confirming CLT's growing interdisciplinary integration with educational technology and cognitive science.

Indexed as

bibliometric analysisCognitive Load Theorydigital learningeducational technologyresearch trends

Identifiers

PMID42245912
PMCPMC13229906

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.