Mushrooms for Focus and Memory: What the Research Shows
Lion's mane is the only mushroom with human trials on focus and memory. Here is what small studies in older and younger adults found, what they did not, and what to ask first.
Content last updated . This page has not been medically reviewed.
Safety first. Supplements can cause side effects and interact with medicines. Read mushroom safety and interactions before you use any mushroom product.
If you came here asking "do mushrooms help memory?", the honest answer is narrow: one mushroom, lion's mane, has been tested in people, and the results are mixed. For other mushrooms, proper evidence on focus or memory was not found in the searches we ran (PubMed, October 2026, for reishi, cordyceps and other species with cognition or memory terms). A search did surface one trial of a reishi-and-cordyceps combination product on thinking, but we did not read it, so we do not describe it.
Which mushroom, which part
Lion's mane is Hericium erinaceus (Bull.) Pers., family Hericiaceae, a name GBIF lists as accepted. [1] Trials have used the fruiting body (the part above ground), sometimes with mycelium (the fungal threads that grow in the substrate). Results for one form do not carry over to another. See fruiting body, mycelium and beta-glucans and the full lion's mane guide.Traditional use (not evidence): the authors of a 2025 trial describe lion's mane as an ingredient used both as food and therapeutically in the East. [2] That tells us how it has been used, not whether it works.
What the human studies found
| Study | Who, what, how long | What it found | Our label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mori and colleagues, Japan, 2009 | 30 adults aged 50-80 with mild cognitive impairment; tablets of lion's mane dry powder, four 250 mg tablets three times a day for 16 weeks | Higher scores on a cognitive scale than placebo at weeks 8, 12 and 16; scores fell again 4 weeks after stopping [3] | promising but limited (very small) |
| Saitsu and colleagues, 2019 | Supplement made from lion's mane fruiting body for 12 weeks | Of three tests, only the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) improved [4] | promising but limited |
| Docherty and colleagues, 2023 | 41 healthy adults aged 18-45; 1.8 g, one dose then 28 days | Faster on one attention task an hour after one dose; other findings null or limited [5] | mixed (pilot) |
| Surendran and colleagues, 2025 | 18 healthy adults aged 18-35; one 3 g dose of a 10:1 fruiting body extract | No significant effect on overall thinking or mood scores; one individual test improved [2] | no clear benefit overall |
| La Monica and colleagues, 2023 | One 1 g dose of a Nordic-grown lion's mane product, crossover design | Better on some attention and working-memory measures 1 to 2 hours later [6] | mixed (single dose) |
| Grozier and colleagues, 2022 | 24 college-age participants; 10 g a day in muffins for 4 weeks | No significant effect on cognition or on markers of metabolic flexibility [7] | no good evidence of benefit in this group |
| Evans and colleagues, 2026 | 10 healthy adults; 2 g a day of mycelium plus fruiting body for 28 days | No statistically significant change in executive function or plasma BDNF [8] | insufficient evidence (pilot) |
A 2025 systematic review found five randomized trials and three pilot trials, and reported that Mini-Mental State Examination scores from one trial and one pilot trial showed a combined weighted mean increase of 1.17 in the lion's mane group. [9] Another review noted that, despite promising preclinical work, only a limited number of clinical trials have been carried out. [10]
Frequently asked questions
Does lion's mane improve memory?
Small trials in older adults with mild cognitive impairment reported higher scores on some tests, but trials in healthy younger adults mostly found no clear overall effect. [3][2] The evidence is promising but limited.
Do other mushrooms help focus?
Proper evidence not found for other species in the searches we ran. Lion's mane is the one with human cognition trials on this page.
Is the fruiting body or the mycelium better for the brain?
The studies we read used different forms and amounts, so they cannot answer that. [5][8] Results for one form should not be assumed for another.
Can mushrooms replace memory-loss care?
No. Trials were small, and one found scores fell after the supplement was stopped. [3] Ask a clinician about new or worsening memory changes.
Are there side effects?
Stomach discomfort, headache and allergic reactions have been reported. [9] Ask a pharmacist if you take medicines.
More details: evidence, limits and cautions
The details behind this page: cautions, limits of the evidence and where sources disagree. Open any note to read it.
How to read this
- Older adults with mild impairment are where the more positive findings sit, and those trials were small. [3][4]
- Healthy younger adults mostly show no clear overall effect, with scattered single-test differences. [2][7]
- Doses, products and tests differ a lot, so the trials cannot simply be added together.
- Findings about "nerve growth factor" come mostly from laboratory and animal work, which is a different level of evidence; see lion's mane and nerve growth factor claims.
Safety and who should ask first
Other brain-health options and where mushrooms fit among them are on nootropics and botanical and mushroom nootropics.
References
- GBIF Secretariat. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy species match for Hericium erinaceus, Ganoderma lucidum, Cordyceps militaris, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, Pleurotus ostreatus and Lentinula edodes. Read 2026-10-22.
- Surendran G, Saye J, Binti Mohd Jalil S, et al. Acute effects of a standardised extract of Hericium erinaceus (Lion's Mane mushroom) on cognition and mood in healthy younger adults. Front Nutr. 2025. PubMed 40276537. Read 2026-10-22.
- 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. PubMed 18844328. Read 2026-10-22.
- Saitsu Y, Nishide A, Kikushima K, Shimizu K, Ohnuki K. Improvement of cognitive functions by oral intake of Hericium erinaceus. Biomed Res. 2019. PubMed 31413233. Read 2026-10-22.
- 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. PubMed 38004235. Read 2026-10-22.
- La Monica MB, Raub B, Ziegenfuss EJ, et al. Acute effects of naturally occurring guayusa tea and Nordic Lion's Mane extracts on cognitive performance. Nutrients. 2023. PubMed 38140277. Read 2026-10-22.
- Grozier CD, Alves VA, Killen LG, et al. Four weeks of Hericium erinaceus supplementation does not impact markers of metabolic flexibility or cognition. Int J Exerc Sci. 2022. PubMed 36582308. Read 2026-10-22.
- Evans C, Kalman D, Goodrich J, et al. A pilot proof-of-concept study to evaluate the physiological and cognitive impacts of Hericium erinaceus on healthy adults. Nutrients. 2026. PubMed 42884628. Read 2026-10-22.
- Menon A, Jalal A, Arshad Z, Nawaz FA, Kashyap R. Benefits, side effects, and uses of Hericium erinaceus as a supplement: a systematic review. Front Nutr. 2025. PubMed 40959699. Read 2026-10-22.
- Brandalise F, Roda E, Ratto D, et al. Hericium erinaceus in neurodegenerative diseases: from bench to bedside and beyond, how far from the shoreline? J Fungi. 2023. PubMed 37233262. Read 2026-10-22.