What do the states mean?+
- Solid: well studied, and it works.
- Half-there: the science is still forming.
- A ghost: almost no real studies.
- Hollow: well studied, and it does not work.
- A cord: the pair itself has been tested together.
- Air: nobody has ever tested this pair.
The full scoring method: How we score
Lion’s mane benefits: where the science stands
For memory and focus: not settled yet.
Memory and focus are what most people take lion’s mane for, and the best studies disagree: two found it helps, one found no effect. As of August 2026, the verdict on this page rests on evidence from 6 trials, drawn from the strongest research among the 27 papers on PubMed that mention lion’s mane. Every claim is checked below.
27 papers on PubMed · evidence from 6 trials
Claim by claim
- Memory and focusThe science is still forming. The best studies disagree.
Pairs people ask about
The three sources we read
- 2009Randomized trial · 30 people · moderate benefit for memory and focussource
- 2019Randomized trial · no clear effect on memory and focussource
- 2023Randomized trial · 41 people · small benefit for memory and focussource
Chosen as the strongest evidence out of 27 papers on PubMed. Every row links to its paper.
Fair questions
Does lion’s mane work?+
For memory and focus, it is not settled. The best studies disagree.
Is lion’s mane safe?+
No caution is recorded on this page. That is not a safety guarantee; the studies we read were not safety trials.
Why only 3 sources, when PubMed lists 27?+
The 27 is every paper that mentions lion’s mane in any way: animal studies, blood measurements, papers where it is a side note. The strongest sources are combined reviews, and each one already gathers every trial its authors could find. Our 3 cover 6 trials between them, and every one is linked above. Both counts are measured, not estimated.