Protocol
Lion's Mane 3 g/day fruiting-body powder (as studied)
Mori 2009 (PMID PubMed ID: the permanent number the US National Library of Medicine gives a published paper. Each one links to that paper's record on PubMed. 18844328): 30 adults aged 50 to 80 with mild cognitive impairment took four 250 mg tablets of fruiting-body powder three times daily, about 3 g/day, for 16 weeks; HDS-R cognitive scores rose against placebo An inactive substitute made to look like the real treatment, so participants cannot tell which one they received. at weeks 8, 12 and 16 and fell again four weeks after stopping.
Grade C: human trials exist, but they are small, mixed or not yet repeated. This is not a finding that it does not work. How to read a grade →
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How this letter has changedLatest: October 2026 · Corrected.
The protocol, already renamed to the studied 3 g/day, cited Mori et al. (Phytotherapy Research, 2009; PMID 18844328) alone and said nothing about the lead author's affiliation with a commercial mushroom producer, now stated beside the letter. Added: Saitsu et al. (Biomedical Research, 2019; PMID 31413233), one of three cognitive tests improved in healthy older adults at a dose the abstract does not state; Li et al. (Front Aging Neurosci, 2020; PMID 32581767), the only chronic trial near 1,000 mg/day, which used erinacine-enriched mycelium in mild Alzheimer's disease; and three null or mostly null trials in healthy young adults (Grozier et al., 2022; PMID 36582308; Docherty et al., 2023; PMID 38004235; Surendran et al., 2025; PMID 40276537). C unchanged. Applied the written grade definition under the editor's standing instruction of October 2026 (Arnold Sandlow, D.C.).PMID 18844328 PMID 31413233 PMID 32581767 PMID 36582308 PMID 38004235 PMID 40276537
The protocol was named "Lion's Mane 1,000 mg (fruiting body)" while its only trial, Mori et al. (Phytother Res, 2009; PMID 18844328), gave four 250 mg tablets of fruiting-body powder three times daily, about 3 g/day, for 16 weeks. A dose in a name is read as the dose that was tested, and 1,000 mg is a consumer dose no trial has tested on cognition. The protocol is renamed at the studied dose with an as-studied block; the letter (C) and the record identifier are unchanged. Found by the dose-in-name check that became gate_g183 the same day.PMID 18844328
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This protocol is about 3 grams a day of lion's mane mushroom powder, the amount used in one study. In that study, 30 adults aged 50 to 80 with mild memory problems scored higher on a memory test after 16 weeks. Their scores fell again four weeks after they stopped. The lead researcher worked for a mushroom company, and no one has repeated the study.
Investigators: The single trial this Grade C rests on was run by investigators employed by, founded by, or belonging to the organization that developed, sells or teaches the intervention (the lead author's affiliation is the mushroom laboratory of a commercial mushroom producer). The funder may read non-commercial; the people who ran the trial are part of the organization whose intervention they tested, which is stated here so it can be weighed alongside the letter.
Mori 2009 (PMID 18844328): 30 adults aged 50 to 80 with mild cognitive impairment took four 250 mg tablets of fruiting-body powder three times daily, about 3 g/day, for 16 weeks; HDS-R cognitive scores rose against placebo at weeks 8, 12 and 16 and fell again four weeks after stopping. The lead author was at the mushroom laboratory of a commercial mushroom producer, stated beside the letter. Saitsu 2019 (PMID 31413233), a second fruiting-body trial in 31 healthy older adults, improved the MMSE and not the other two cognitive tests. Trials in healthy young adults were null or mostly null (Grozier 2022, PMID 36582308, 10 g/day for 4 weeks; Docherty 2023, PMID 38004235, 1.8 g/day for 28 days; Surendran 2025, PMID 40276537, single 3 g dose). The only chronic trial near 1,000 mg/day (Li 2020, PMID 32581767) used erinacine-enriched mycelium in mild Alzheimer's disease, a different form, run by its maker. NGF stimulation is a mechanism, not an outcome. This protocol was previously named at 1,000 mg, a consumer dose one third of what the trial gave; it is now named at the studied dose. FORM CAUTION: the trial used fruiting body; it does not compare fruiting body with mycelium grown on grain.
Why this gradeGrade C, small or unreplicated trials. The reasoning, and what the grade does not cover.
Grade C on a cognitive score in mild cognitive impairment, resting on one trial: 30 adults aged 50 to 80 took about 3 g/day of fruiting-body powder for 16 weeks, and HDS-R scores rose against placebo, then fell again four weeks after stopping (Mori et al., 2009; PMID 18844328). The lead author worked at a commercial mushroom producer's laboratory, stated beside the letter. A second fruiting-body trial in healthy older adults improved one of three cognitive tests (Saitsu et al., 2019; PMID 31413233), a partial result at an unstated dose, not a replication The same finding reproduced by a separate research group. A result seen once can be chance or bias; a replicated one is harder to explain away.. Trials in healthy young adults were null or mostly null (PMIDs 36582308, 38004235, 40276537). Small, with a single clean positive trial: C.
WHAT THIS GRADE DOES NOT COVERlower consumer doses such as 1,000 mg, a third of what the trial gave; mycelium grown on grain, where the one chronic trial near 1,000 mg/day (Li et al., 2020; PMID 32581767) tested an erinacine-enriched product in mild Alzheimer's disease, run by its maker; healthy adults, in whom benefit has not been shown; and nerve growth factor, which is a mechanism, not an outcome.
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The evidence, in fullSix papers, each linked to its PubMed record.
Mori et al. (Phytotherapy Research, 2009; PMID 18844328): four 250 mg tablets of 96 percent fruiting-body dry powder three times daily, 3 g/day, for 16 weeks, 30 adults with mild cognitive impairment; HDS-R scores higher than placebo at weeks 8 to 16 and falling after stopping; the lead author's affiliation is the mushroom laboratory of a commercial mushroom producer, and funding is not stated. Saitsu et al. (Biomedical Research, 2019; PMID 31413233): 31 healthy older adults, fruiting-body supplement for 12 weeks; the Mini-Mental State Examination improved and the Benton visual retention and paired-associate learning tests did not; the abstract does not state the dose, and secondary sources report it variously, so no dose is quoted here. Li et al. (Front Aging Neurosci, 2020; PMID 32581767): 49 weeks of erinacine A-enriched mycelium capsules, 1,050 mg/day, in mild Alzheimer's disease; MMSE and daily-living scores better than placebo; a different form, maker-run, and four participants withdrew for abdominal discomfort, nausea or rash. Null or mostly null in healthy young adults: Grozier et al. (Int J Exerc Sci, 2022; PMID 36582308), 10 g/day for 4 weeks, no effect on cognition or metabolic flexibility, single-blind; Docherty et al. (Nutrients, 2023; PMID 38004235), 1.8 g/day for 28 days, faster Stroop performance after a single dose and otherwise null; Surendran et al. (Front Nutr, 2025; PMID 40276537), a single 3 g dose of a 10:1 extract, null on composite cognition and mood, two authors employed by a drinks company using the mushroom.
A validated brief cognitive battery (MoCA, CNS Vital Signs) at baseline and 12 weeks: the Mori et al. 2009 RCT Randomized controlled trial: people are assigned to the treatment or a comparison by chance, so the groups differ only in what they received. It is the design that can show cause and effect. (PMID 18844328) used the HDS-R cognitive scale over 16 weeks. Subjective memory and mood using validated self-report scales monthly. The cited trial used a fruiting body preparation. No cited trial compares fruiting body with mycelium, so this record makes no claim that one outperforms the other.
Evidence notes: not independently replicated, randomized trial
Endpoint The outcome a trial measures to decide whether the treatment worked, such as heart attacks, blood pressure or a symptom score. graded: A cognitive score (HDS-R) in mild cognitive impairment (functional)
Last reviewed: July 2026
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