Raised memory scores in older adults with mild cognitive impairment
Human trialHericium erinaceus
Lion's Mane
A white cascade of spines that Britain protects in the wild and scientists have studied since 1991 for its effect on nerve growth.
Overview
It grows no cap and no gills, only a cascade of white spines.
Lion's Mane grows no cap and no gills. It hangs from a wound in an old broadleaf tree as a single white cushion, from which hundreds of soft spines fall straight down like icicles. Its Latin name, Hericium erinaceus, says “hedgehog” twice. In Britain, where it fruits mostly on old beech, it is rare enough to be protected by law.
In China it is a staple crop and a prized food, sweet and delicate when cooked, with a texture often compared to crab or lobster. In the laboratory it has held attention since 1991, when Japanese chemists found that compounds from the mushroom prompted brain cells to make nerve growth factor, a protein that keeps neurons alive and connected. It has been one of the most studied mushrooms in brain research ever since.
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1998
the year Britain made it an offence to pick or sell wild Lion's Mane.
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30cm
across for the largest wild specimens.
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85%
of the world's Lion's Mane is grown in China.
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1991
the year Japanese chemists first linked it to nerve growth factor, the protein that keeps neurons alive.
Its other names
In English it is a lion's mane, in Chinese a monkey's head, in Korean a roe deer's rump. Most cultures that meet it reach for an animal.
Yamabushitake
“Yamabushi mushroom”, after the pom-pom tassels on the robes of Japan's mountain ascetics
Japan
Hóutóugū
“Monkey-head mushroom”
China
Bearded tooth
Its usual name in the British countryside
Britain
Benefits
What it's studied for
- Human trial 2
- Human trial and animal 1
- Lab and human pilot 1
- Animal 1
- Lab 1
Eased low mood and anxiety in small trials
Human trialPrompts brain cells to make nerve growth factor
LabSped nerve repair after injury
AnimalProtected the stomach lining and eased chronic gastritis
Human trial and animalFeeds beneficial gut bacteria
Lab and human pilotTradition
History of use
For most of its history, Lion's Mane was a delicacy. Its fame as a brain mushroom is barely thirty years old.
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South-east China3rd century
A text from the Wu kingdom records a local passion for “monkey-head soup”, and a saying to go with it: better to give up a thousand measures of millet than give up monkey-head soup.
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JapanThe Shugendō tradition
The mushroom takes its Japanese name from the yamabushi, mountain ascetics whose robes carry round pom-pom tassels that hang like its spines.
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France1780s
The botanist Jean Baptiste Bulliard gave it its first scientific name, Hydnum erinaceus: the hedgehog tooth fungus.
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Shanghai1960
The Shanghai Agricultural Academy made the first attempt at cultivation. China now grows most of the world's supply.
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Shizuoka1991
Hirokazu Kawagishi's team reported that hericenones from the mushroom raised nerve growth factor production in brain cells. Three years later they found a second family, the erinacines, in its mycelium.
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Britain1998
Lion's Mane joined Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, which made it an offence to pick or sell a wild specimen.
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Japan2009
The first clinical trial for the brain: older adults with mild memory problems took the dried mushroom every day for 16 weeks.
Key active compounds
What's inside the mushroom
Aromatic compounds
Hericenones
Hericenones come from the fruiting body: aromatic molecules carrying a terpene tail, 24 of them identified so far. In 1991, hericenones C, D and E raised nerve growth factor production in brain cells and launched a field of research.
The story has grown more intriguing since. Recent work suggests the body may first trim hericenone C into a smaller, more active form, deacylhericenone, which proved stronger than its parent at protecting brain cells in the laboratory.
Diterpenes
Erinacines
Erinacines come from the mycelium, the network of fine threads the fungus grows through wood. In cell tests they proved strong triggers of nerve growth factor, and 23 are now known.
Erinacines A and S are the compounds from Lion's Mane shown to reach the brain: in rats, erinacine A crossed into brain tissue within an hour of being swallowed.
Isoindolinones
Hericene A and its relatives
In 2023, researchers at the University of Queensland found that compounds from the fruiting body, hericene A among them, doubled the length of axons in cultured neurons and more than tripled their branching. Mice given the compounds did better on memory tests.
Polysaccharides
Beta-glucans
Beta-glucans make up around a sixth of the dried fruiting body in one analysis. They pass through the stomach and small intestine intact and are fermented by bacteria in the colon, and in rats, Lion's Mane extracts and polysaccharides protected the stomach lining against injury.
- With compounds from the fruiting body 2×
- Untreated neurons 1×
Martínez-Mármol et al., Journal of Neurochemistry, 2023.
Selected research
The research
Lion's Mane reached human trials in 1985, for the stomach, and in 2009 for the brain. The studies below follow both threads, alongside the laboratory work that put it on the map.
1985
A double-blind study of effectiveness of Hericium erinaceus Pers therapy on chronic atrophic gastritis. A preliminary report
50 people with chronic atrophic gastritis took a Lion's Mane preparation or placebo for three months.
Stomach pain eased in 63%, against 36% on placebo; the stomach lining improved on endoscopy in 52%, against 8%.
2009
Improving effects of the mushroom Yamabushitake (Hericium erinaceus) on mild cognitive impairment: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial
30 adults aged 50 to 80 with mild cognitive impairment took 3 g of dried Lion's Mane a day for 16 weeks.
Cognitive scores rose above placebo at 8, 12 and 16 weeks, and fell back within four weeks of stopping.
2019
Improvement of cognitive functions by oral intake of Hericium erinaceus
31 healthy adults over 50 took 3.2 g of dried Lion's Mane a day for 12 weeks.
Higher scores on the MMSE, a widely used test of memory and thinking; no change on two other tests.
2020
Prevention of early Alzheimer's disease by erinacine A-enriched Hericium erinaceus mycelia: pilot double-blind placebo-controlled study
41 people with mild Alzheimer's disease took erinacine A-enriched mycelium for 49 weeks.
Better daily-living and contrast-vision scores than placebo; memory scores rose in the treated group, though the difference from placebo was not statistically significant.
2021
Preclinical bioavailability, tissue distribution, and protein binding studies of erinacine A, a bioactive compound from Hericium erinaceus mycelia using validated LC-MS/MS method
Gave rats erinacine A by mouth.
It reached brain tissue within an hour.
2023
The acute and chronic effects of Lion's Mane mushroom supplementation on cognitive function, stress and mood in young adults: a double-blind, parallel groups, pilot study
41 healthy adults aged 18 to 45 at Northumbria University took 1.8 g a day for 28 days.
Faster on an attention test an hour after the first dose, and a trend towards lower stress after a month.
2023
Hericerin derivatives activates a pan-neurotrophic pathway in central hippocampal neurons converging to ERK1/2 signaling enhancing spatial memory
Tested fruiting-body compounds on neurons and in mice.
Axons doubled in length; mice did better on memory tests.
The trials are small and most come from Japan and Taiwan, and results in healthy younger adults are mixed.
Good to know
Lion's Mane is a widely eaten food, and in trials side effects were mild and uncommon: occasional stomach upset, nausea or a rash. Avoid it if you have a mushroom allergy, as rare allergic reactions have been reported. If you take blood-thinning or diabetes medication, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, check with your doctor first.
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References
- [1]The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Variation of Schedules 5 and 8) Order 1998, SI 1998/878 (in force 16 April 1998).
- [2]Boddy L, Wald P. Creolophus (=Hericium) cirrhatus, Hericium erinaceus and H. coralloides in England. English Nature Research Reports No. 492, 2003.
- [3]First Nature. Hericium erinaceus, Bearded Tooth. first-nature.com.
- [4]Yang D, Zhu L, Zheng Q. Regional cultivation forms of Hericium erinaceus across China's climatic zones: a scoping review. J Fungi 2026;12(4):285. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [5]Pegler DN. Useful fungi of the world: the monkey head fungus. Mycologist 2003;17(3):120–121. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [6]Wang K, Chen BS, Bao L et al. A review of research on the active secondary metabolites of Hericium species [in Chinese]. Mycosystema 2015;34(4):553–568.
- [7]Encyclopaedia Britannica. Yamabushi.
- [8]Koga J, Thorn RG, Langer E. A multilocus phylogeny of Hericium (Hericiaceae, Russulales). Persoonia 2025;55:141–157. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [9]Kawagishi H, Ando M, Sakamoto H et al. Hericenones C, D and E, stimulators of nerve growth factor (NGF)-synthesis, from the mushroom Hericium erinaceum. Tetrahedron Lett 1991;32(35):4561–4564. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [10]Kawagishi H, Shimada A, Shirai R et al. Erinacines A, B and C, strong stimulators of nerve growth factor (NGF)-synthesis, from the mycelia of Hericium erinaceum. Tetrahedron Lett 1994;35(10):1569–1572. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [11]Othman A, Amen Y, Shimizu K. Hericenones from Hericium erinaceus (Bull.) Pers.: a scoping review of structural diversity and health benefits. Chem Biodivers 2026;23(1):e02560. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [12]Amen Y, Othman A, Shimizu K. Chemistry and bioactivities of erinacines from Hericium fungi. J Nat Med 2026;80(3):493–512. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [13]Tamrakar S, Wang D, Hiraki E et al. Deacylated derivative of hericenone C treated by lipase shows enhanced neuroprotective properties compared to its parent compound. Molecules 2023;28(11):4549. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [14]Tsai PC, Wu YK, Hu JH et al. Preclinical bioavailability, tissue distribution, and protein binding studies of erinacine A, a bioactive compound from Hericium erinaceus mycelia using validated LC-MS/MS method. Molecules 2021;26(15):4510. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [15]Hu JH, Li IC, Lin TW et al. Absolute bioavailability, tissue distribution, and excretion of erinacine S in Hericium erinaceus mycelia. Molecules 2019;24(8):1624. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [16]Martínez-Mármol R, Chai Y, Conroy JN et al. Hericerin derivatives activates a pan-neurotrophic pathway in central hippocampal neurons converging to ERK1/2 signaling enhancing spatial memory. J Neurochem 2023;165(6):791–808. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [17]Keerthana CS, Kumari R, Beura M et al. Unveiling the glucan profile: a comparative study of Lion's Mane and Shiitake mushrooms. Nat Prod Res 2026;40(9):2627–2630. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [18]Tian B et al. Digestive characteristics of Hericium erinaceus polysaccharides and their positive effects on fecal microbiota of male and female volunteers during in vitro fermentation. Front Nutr 2022;9:858585. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [19]Wong JY, Abdulla MA, Raman J et al. Gastroprotective effects of Lion's Mane mushroom Hericium erinaceus extract against ethanol-induced ulcer in rats. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2013;2013:492976. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [20]Wong KH, Naidu M, David P et al. Peripheral nerve regeneration following crush injury to rat peroneal nerve by aqueous extract of medicinal mushroom Hericium erinaceus. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2011;2011:580752. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [21]Xu CP, Liu WW, Liu FX et al. A double-blind study of effectiveness of Hericium erinaceus Pers therapy on chronic atrophic gastritis. A preliminary report. Chin Med J (Engl) 1985;98(6):455–6. PubMed (Opens in a new window)
- [22]Pellegrino R, Gravina AG. Potential of traditional Chinese medicine in gastrointestinal disorders: Hericium erinaceus in chronic atrophic gastritis. World J Gastroenterol 2025;31(20):106615. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [23]Mori K, Inatomi S, Ouchi K, Azumi Y, Tuchida T. Improving effects of the mushroom Yamabushitake (Hericium erinaceus) on mild cognitive impairment: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Phytother Res 2009;23(3):367–72. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [24]Nagano M, Shimizu K, Kondo R et al. Reduction of depression and anxiety by 4 weeks Hericium erinaceus intake. Biomed Res 2010;31(4):231–7. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [25]Saitsu Y, Nishide A, Kikushima K, Shimizu K, Ohnuki K. Improvement of cognitive functions by oral intake of Hericium erinaceus. Biomed Res 2019;40(4):125–131. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [26]Li IC, Chang HH, Lin CH et al. Prevention of early Alzheimer's disease by erinacine A-enriched Hericium erinaceus mycelia: pilot double-blind placebo-controlled study. Front Aging Neurosci 2020;12:155. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [27]Xie XQ, Geng Y, Guan Q et al. Influence of short-term consumption of Hericium erinaceus on serum biochemical markers and the changes of the gut microbiota: a pilot study. Nutrients 2021;13(3):1008. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [28]Docherty S, Doughty FL, Smith EF. The acute and chronic effects of Lion's Mane mushroom supplementation on cognitive function, stress and mood in young adults: a double-blind, parallel groups, pilot study. Nutrients 2023;15(22):4842. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [29]Mori K, Kikuchi H, Obara Y et al. Inhibitory effect of hericenone B from Hericium erinaceus on collagen-induced platelet aggregation. Phytomedicine 2010;17(14):1082–5. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [30]Nakatsugawa M, Takahashi H, Takezawa C et al. Hericium erinaceum (yamabushitake) extract-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome monitored by serum surfactant proteins. Intern Med 2003;42(12):1219–22. DOI (Opens in a new window)
- [31]LiverTox. Lion's Mane. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; last updated 5 January 2024.
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Organic Lion's Mane
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