The short answer
We count ten published human trials of lion's mane taken on its own, with 338 people between them. The most promising results are for memory in older adults with mild decline. Trials in healthy younger adults mostly found no effect. The largest trial had 77 people and no placebo group.
On this page
Every trial at a glance
| Study | Who took part | Dose | Length | What it found | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evans 2026 | 10 healthy adults aged 18 to 55 | 2 g a day | 28 days | No significant change in attention, task switching or blood BDNF levels.Ten people and no comparison group. | No benefit found |
| Surendran 2025 | 18 healthy adults aged 18 to 35 | 3 g, single dose | One dose, tested at 90 minutes | No overall effect on thinking or mood. One dexterity test (a pegboard) improved.Small, and a single dose only. | No benefit found |
| Docherty 2023 | 41 healthy adults aged 18 to 45 | 1.8 g a day | 28 days | Quicker on one attention test (Stroop) an hour after the first dose. A trend towards less stress after 28 days that just missed significance. Most other measures did not change.A pilot study; the authors say the results should be treated with caution. | Mixed |
| La Monica 2023 | 40 healthy adults aged 18 to 50 | 1 g, single dose | One dose, tested at 1 and 2 hours | Faster reaction times on some tasks and more attempts on a mental arithmetic test.Funded in part by an ingredient supplier; single dose only. | Mixed |
| Grozier 2022 | 24 healthy college-age adults | 10 g a day | 4 weeks | No effect on thinking tasks or on how the body burned fuel during exercise.Small; the groups differed at the start. | No benefit found |
| Li 2020 | 41 people with mild Alzheimer’s disease | 1.05 g a day (3 × 350 mg) | 49 weeks | Memory test (MMSE) scores rose in the lion’s mane group while the placebo group declined on another test. Daily living scores also differed between groups.The product’s maker paid several of the authors; 8 of 49 people dropped out. | Benefit found |
| Saitsu 2019 | 31 adults over 50 (average age 61) | 3.2 g a day | 12 weeks | Improved scores on a short memory and thinking test (MMSE). Two other memory tests showed no difference.Small; only one of three tests improved. | Mixed |
| Vigna 2019 | 77 adults with overweight or obesity on a low-calorie diet | 1.5 g a day | 8 weeks | Depression, anxiety and sleep scores fell in the lion’s mane group; mood scores did not change significantly with diet alone.No placebo, so expectation effects cannot be ruled out; the maker supplied the capsules. | Benefit found |
| Nagano 2010 | 26 women with general health complaints (average age 41) | 2 g a day | 4 weeks | Depression and general-complaint scores fell from where they started. Only a couple of items differed from placebo.Only 12 people took lion’s mane; most changes were within the group, not against placebo. Sleep did not improve. | Mixed |
| Mori 2009 | 30 adults aged 50 to 80 with mild cognitive impairment | 3 g a day | 16 weeks | Thinking test scores rose steadily compared with placebo, then fell again within 4 weeks of stopping.Small; 15 people took lion’s mane. | Benefit found |
Newest first. Each study name links to its PubMed record.
How did we choose these trials?
We searched PubMed for every study of Hericium erinaceus or lion’s mane in people, then kept the ones that gave lion’s mane on its own and measured a health outcome. We left out:
- multi-ingredient products, such as gut supplements in which lion’s mane is one of several ingredients;
- studies of fresh lion’s mane as a food ingredient that measured taste or texture rather than health;
- conference abstracts and studies we could not find in full or in abstract.
Each study name in the table links to its PubMed record. We read the full text where it is freely available, and the table notes who funded the work when that matters.
What do the trials add up to?
Three patterns stand out:
- Older adults with mild memory decline did best. All three trials in this group found some benefit on memory tests, which is why we grade memory as moderate evidence.
- Healthy young adults saw little. Across five trials, the only positive results were small, single-dose effects on one or two tasks. See focus.
- Mood results depend on study design. The study without a placebo found the clearest benefit; the placebo-controlled one mostly did not. See anxiety and depression.
What is still missing?
A large, independent, placebo-controlled trial lasting at least six months, using a product whose content is measured and published. Until one appears, every conclusion about lion’s mane in people rests on small studies. We update this page when new trials are published.
Common questions
How many human studies are there on lion's mane?
We count ten published trials of lion's mane on its own, as of November 2026. There are also a few studies of multi-ingredient products that contain lion's mane, which we leave out because their results cannot be put down to lion's mane alone.
Are there any large trials of lion's mane?
No. The largest had 77 people and no placebo group, and the largest placebo-controlled trials had 41 people analysed. None would be considered large by medical standards.
Which lion's mane trial is the most reliable?
There is no single strong trial. The 16-week Mori 2009 trial and the 49-week Li 2020 trial are the most often cited, but both are small, and Li 2020 was partly run by staff of the company that makes the product.
References
- Menon A et al. Benefits, side effects, and uses of Hericium erinaceus as a supplement: a systematic review. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2025.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Cha S et al. A review of the effects of mushrooms on mood and neurocognitive health across the lifespan. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2024.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
First published 3 November 2026. Spotted an error? Tell us and we'll correct it. Read our editorial policy.