Mental health mushrooms: Spotlight on Lion’s Mane research and knowledge gaps

10 Jun 2024 --- As mushrooms gather consumer and market interest, product applications ranging from mental health supplements to coffee alternatives take the spotlight. One of the most popular and researched mushrooms is Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus), with some studies backing its benefits in reducing mild cognitive impairment. 

At the same time, experts highlight that there is limited scientific research to support the wide range of claims consumers make. 

Aiming to fill this gap, researchers at NUTRAN, Nutrition Trials at Northumbria University, UK, recently published a clinical trial on the effects of Lion’s Mane supplementation on cognitive function, stress and mood. 

Nutrition Insight discusses the expanding scientific basis and research gaps for Lion’s Mane with Ellen Smith, a research fellow based within the brain performance and nutrition research center at NUTRAN and co-author of the recent study. 

Smith notes that mushrooms, in general, and Lion’s Mane have been getting much attention on social media and in the news. She highlights that the mushroom fits the consumer’s interest in improving health, brain function and memory as they age. 

“It’s unknown to me why Lion’s Mane is the most interesting of the lot at the moment,” she says. “It could just be an anecdotal consumer response; people who are taking mushrooms are seeing these beneficial effects and talking about them. But we need a lot more research to back that up.”

“I imagine that as more mushroom research takes place, other types of mushrooms will gather the same amount of scientific and public interest.” 

Mushroom mania 
Smith speculates that the current public interest in Lion’s Mane may be driven by growing attention on social media, its long history of use and its novelty. “It’s so novel — it’s not something you can just pick up in a supermarket,” she illustrates. “That will add to the interest as well.” 

“All you need to do is go on Instagram, YouTube or TikTok and type in Lion’s Mane, and there’s all sorts of videos of people who’ve taken it, giving these health benefits. Specifically, Lion’s Mane is about clearing brain fog and improving memory and concentration. Those claims being spread on social media, whether backed up by scientific evidence or not, will get a lot of interest within the products.” 

In addition to supplements, mushrooms are also gaining traction as a coffee alternative.The mushroom has been used for centuries within East Asian medicine for a range of ailments, explains Smith. These include gastrointestinal and related disorders, as well as increasing vigor and strength. “That’s where you might see some of those mood-related things, but, interestingly, it seems to have picked up a lot of interest quite recently.” 

Moreover, she underscores that mushrooms offer a sustainable option that interests the supplement industry. 

Scientific basis 
Although there is promising work in mushrooms, especially with Lion’s Mane alleviating mild cognitive impairment in older adults, Smith underscores that from the science to date, there “isn’t enough data to support the claims we see online and on social media.” 

“There is evidence to suggest that after taking Lion’s Mane chronically, over a sustained period of time, there’s some reduction in mild cognitive impairment scores,” she explains. “It’s great, but the studies themselves are quite small. They’re all pilot trials, and there are many discrepancies in how these studies have been conducted.”

She adds that there are ongoing discussions on the composition and dosages of mushroom supplements, which vary greatly among products on the market. For example, some supplements use the mycelium or the mushroom root, while others use the fruit. 

Smith notes that, currently, the majority of research focuses on Lion’s Mane. She expects more studies to come out in the next few years. “Where I’m saying there needs to be a lot more work being done, it probably is being done, but it’s not out for public consumption just yet.” 

Reduced subjective stress 
Smith was one of the researchers of a recent double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with a parallel groups design. The trial examined the acute and chronic (28-day) effects of Lion’s Mane supplementation on cognitive function, stress and mood in young, healthy adults. She asserts that this was the first trial to look at acute supplementation effects. 

Smith notes there isn’t sufficient scientific data to support claims on mushrooms by consumers.“Because we had such limited research in Lion’s Mane before this trial, especially when looking at young, healthy adults, we couldn’t pinpoint what areas of cognitive performance we might see effects on,” she explains. “We wanted to take a more exploratory expansive approach, looking at various cognitive domains that we could look into further in future trials.” 

After training on the different cognitive tasks, the 41 participants traveled to the research center and completed the first battery of cognitive tasks as a baseline. Then, they took a supplement of either Lion’s Mane or a placebo and retook the tests 60 minutes later to measure acute benefits. 

Next, the participants consumed their supplements daily for 28 days before returning and repeating the same visit at the research center to determine chronic effects. 

“After 60 minutes, there was a quicker performance on one of the tasks, the Stroop Task, which measures executive function. That was the only effect that we saw acutely,” explains Smith. 

“In the chronic effects, we saw a trend toward reducing subjective stress. There, participants in the Lion’s Mane group were less subjectively stressed on day 28 than on day one, and they were also less subjectively stressed than the placebo group on day 28.” 

Research gaps 
Additional, more extensive and higher quality studies are crucial to detect cognitive enhancing effects, especially in younger adults at the peak of their cognitive ability, underscores Smith. “There are a lot of inconsistencies in the trials to date.” 

She adds that previous studies have varied in the dosage and presentation of Lion’s Mane. For example, some studies supply the mushroom in cookie or muffin form, which likely has a different impact than a capsulated format or gummies. 

More extensive and higher quality studies are needed to verify mushrooms’ cognitive enhancing effects.Trials also need to be more ambitious and take interdisciplinary approaches. “Looking at multiple areas of health, or measuring different biomarkers in the blood at the same time, so we can have a better idea of what’s going on.” 

“Another thing to bear in mind is that there is no bioavailability data within humans,” Smith cautions. “Assessing acute performance after 60 min was based on other nutritional interventions where we’ve seen benefits after that quite short time. However, one of the key limitations of the trial is that without the bioavailability data, we might not have hit that sweet spot. It could have been too short or too long. It’s difficult to argue either way without any of that data to support it.” 

She iterates that bioavailability data will be essential for future research, especially when considering acute benefits. “We need a better idea of the half-life, where we might see that peak and therefore expect the most out of any cognitive and mood enhancements.” 

“Treatment before treatment” 
Within the first trial on Lion’s Mane, the researchers considered stress and general mood as a whole, explains Smith. This included areas such as alertness and tranquility alongside stress reduction. 

The team is currently working on a follow-up trial, looking specifically at Gen Z women — born between 1997 and 2007. Smith explains that this trial will go beyond stress reductions and considers “the potential mood and well-being effects that Lion’s Mane might have” in subclinical populations. 

“We’re looking specifically at that group who tend to have a high diagnosis rate of mental health conditions, and that is also typically a group of women who are looking for alternative medicine or alternative treatments.” 

She explains that the trial is recruiting women who “feel anxious or stressed without a clinical diagnosis” to determine if the mushroom can alleviate those effects. The UK has very long waiting lists for psychological support. 

Before the upcoming trial, the researchers conducted a focus group with Gen Z women to prioritize well-being areas.In the long term, the researchers hope to determine if Lion’s Mane or a similar product can act as a “treatment before treatment.” 

“Before these people get a diagnosis of anxiety, stress or any psychiatric disorder, they’re already feeling symptoms that are interfering with their day-to-day life. We’re looking at this critical point before they see a GP or where they’re on a waiting list for therapy,” Smith illustrates. 

Well-being improvements 
Prior to designing the upcoming trial, the researchers conducted a focus group with women in the Gen Z population to determine what areas of well-being they felt were most important to them and in which they would like to see improvements. 

“The things that came out were stress and fatigue (mental but also physical fatigue), anxiety and self-esteem,” asserts Smith. 

“This was a useful exercise. It means that we’ve designed that trial to target what the demographic wants, rather than being what we think they want or pulling together different questionnaires.” 

In addition, the ongoing trial will focus on three intervention areas — one group taking a placebo, another taking Lion’s Mane and the third consuming a blend of Lion’s Mane and reishi mushrooms. 

“I think there will be a lot more research that looks at different blends of mushrooms or compares different types,” she concludes. “When you look at the industry, many are selling blended mushroom products, using different fungi within the same product.” 

By Jolanda van Hal