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Systematic review

Review of 26 studies: lion's mane raised one memory test score in human trials

Menon and colleagues · Frontiers in nutrition · 2025

Original title: Benefits, side effects, and uses of Hericium erinaceus as a supplement: a systematic review.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Points to benefit

Scores on a memory and thinking test (Mini-Mental State Examination) from one randomized trial and one pilot trial rose by a combined weighted mean of 1.17 in the lion's mane group. Possible side effects: stomach discomfort, headache, allergic reactions.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Systematic review
Who or what was studied
26 studies · People with and without dementia in trials, plus lab, cell and other studies
What was tested
Lion's mane in 5 randomized trials, 3 pilot trials, 15 lab studies, 1 cohort study, 1 case report and 1 computer analysis
What it measured
Several kinds of outcomes
Who has a stake
No stake declared
No competing interests declared.
Journal
Frontiers in nutrition, 2025
Source
PubMed record 40959699. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • •Sums up 26 studies found with a set search method, without pooling the numbers.
  • •Measured several kinds of outcomes.
  • ✓No competing interests declared.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

This paper is not on the ladder. It is a systematic review, and reviews and opinion pieces discuss studies that are already counted on the steps below.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: memory and thinking

    4

    1 benefit, 3 mixed

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  4. Population studies

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  6. Animals

    1

    1 no difference

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does lion's mane improve memory?”

Unclear. Only four trials, with mixed results.

Confidence: very low. Based on 6 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer
  • Quoted in “What we found”: The only review pooled one trial and one pilot trial: memory and thinking test scores rose by a combined average of 1.17 with lion's mane.
  • Part of the finding “The one review pools just two studies”.
  • Summed up in “What reviews found”: Covered five randomized trials, three pilot trials, 15 lab studies and three others (2000 to June 2024). Pooling one trial and one pilot, memory and thinking test scores rose by 1.17. It concluded lion's mane enhances thinking.
  • Marked as a key paper in the research timeline: Only review; pools memory test scores from two studies.
  • Open item for a person: Menon review Menon 2025 pooled one trial and one pilot trial; these may be Mori Mori 2009 or Saitsu Saitsu 2019. Check for double counting.
  • Open item for a person: Menon Menon 2025 pools two studies but is typed systematic_review; confirm whether it should count as a meta-analysis.

Other reviews on this question

None among the papers we read.

See all 6 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The reviewer corrected 3 fields after reading the abstract. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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