Docherty S., Doughty F.L., Smith E.F. 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.
Rationale
Most clinical studies of Hericium erinaceus had focused on elderly people or patients with existing cognitive impairment (MCI, Alzheimer's), while work in healthy young volunteers was scarce and examined either mood alone or a single cognitive domain. Almost no published study had assessed the acute effect (60 minutes post-dose). This pilot aimed to fill both gaps: acute and chronic (28-day) effects across a broad set of cognitive domains plus stress/mood measures in healthy young adults.
Methods
A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled parallel-group study at the Brain, Performance and Nutrition Research Centre (Northumbria University, UK), April–July 2023. 43 volunteers aged 18–45 (mean 26.35), no chronic illness, BMI 18.5–35; two dropped out after the first visit and were replaced — 43 in the acute analysis, 41 in the 28-day analysis. The active arm took 1.8 g/day of the H. erinaceus complex (commercial SO-DSX1®, Sempera Organics Inc., USA; three 600 mg capsules in the morning); control took identical microcrystalline-cellulose capsules. First and last doses were supervised, the rest taken at home (compliance by diaries and capsule count ~96%). Cognitive testing via the COMPASS system covered attention, executive function, working and episodic memory; acute testing ran 60 minutes post-dose.
Results
Sixty minutes after a single dose, the active group performed the Stroop task statistically significantly faster than placebo (p=0.005). After the 28-day course a trend toward reduced subjective stress appeared (p=0.051). Other cognitive domains — attention, working and episodic memory — showed no significant improvements; the authors note both null and sporadically negative findings. Adverse events were recorded but not detailed in the abstract; compliance was ~96%.
Conclusions
The authors conclude that H. erinaceus may preliminarily speed performance of certain cognitive tasks and reduce subjective stress in healthy young adults, but given the small sample and the presence of null results these conclusions need caution and confirmation in larger trials.
Worth noting
The study is positioned as a pilot, and its strengths are a randomized double-blind design with a genuine acute-measurement point (60 minutes) — rare in lion's mane literature. Interpretation still needs caution: the authors themselves flag null and "limited negative" results, and at n≈20 per arm the statistical power for small effects across many secondary outcomes is insufficient — raising the risk of both false positives (uncorrected multiple comparisons) and false negatives. The Stroop task — the single point with a significant acute effect — is sensitive to motivation, practice and time of day. The placebo was inert microcrystalline cellulose, good for blinded control, but it does not answer the question versus an "active" comparator such as β-glucans or another neutral mushroom extract.