Hericium erinaceus, a well known edible mashroom, has numerous biological activities. Especially hericenones and erinacines isolated from its fruiting body stimulate nerve growth factor (NGF) synthesis, which expects H. erinaceus to have some effects on brain functions and autonomic nervous system. Herein, we investigated the clinical effects of H. erinaceus on menopause, depression, sleep quality and indefinite complaints, using the Kupperman Menopausal Index (KMI), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Indefinite Complaints Index (ICI). Thirty females were randomly assigned to either the H. erinaceus (HE) group or the placebo group and took HE cookies or placebo cookies for 4 weeks. Each of the CES-D and the ICI score after the HE intake was significantly lower than that before. In two terms of the ICI, "insentive" and "palpitation", each of the mean score of the HE group was significantly lower than the placebo group. "Concentration", "irritating" and "anxious" tended to be lower than the placebo group. Our results show that HE intake has the possibility to reduce depression and anxiety and these results suggest a different mechanism from NGF-enhancing action of H. erinaceus.H. erinaceus (Lion's mane mushroom), a wellknown edible mushroom, has been used as traditional medicine in several Asian countries to treat various human diseases. The compounds isolated from its fruiting bodies contain numerous biological activities, such as anti-tumor (18), hypolipidemic (26), hemagglutinating (17), cytotoxic (25), anti-microbial (27), endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-suppressive (20, 24), and antioxidant activities (3). Especially, it has been reported that hericenones (11,12,13) and erinacines (4, 15, 16) stimulate nerve growth factor (NGF) synthesis in cultured astrocytes. Erinacines were isolated from the cultured mycelia of H. erinaceus, and identified as one of diterpenoids. Hericenones were isolated from the fruiting bodies of H. erinaceus, and determined its molecular formula as C 35 H 54 O 7 . In addition, studies of the whole brain and cell cultures have shown that NGF affects the viability of cholinergic neurons and the level of activity of choline-acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase in the central nervous system (5,8,9). These reports have shown that some effects of H. erinaceus on cholinergic neurons could be expected. In fact, a clinical study has reported that H. erinaceus improved mild cognitive impairment in which the decrease of cholinergic neurons involved (20). However, despite the clinical importance of H. erinaceus, there have been few studies on elucidating other effects of it on the brain functions and autonomic nervous system. Herein, we investigated the clinical effects of H. erinaceus on menopause, depression, sleep quality
