英聞獨家摘選：lion’s mane mushroom還可補腦 、改善記憶

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Mushroom Extract Shown to Dramatically Improve Brain-Cell Growth in The Lab

Fungi have attracted attention in recent years for their potential in aiding our brains' growth and functionality. And no, we're not just talking about the psychedelic ones.

The lion's mane mushroom, for one, has long had a reputation for various mental health benefits, with recent research supporting its potential in reducing risk for depression or limiting damage from Alzheimer's disease.

In a new study conducted by an international team of scientists, researchers identified compounds in the lion's mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) – an edible fungus species also known as yamabushitake or hou tou gu – that could boost nerve growth and enhance memory.

"Extracts from these so-called lion's mane mushrooms have been used in traditional medicine in Asian countries for centuries, but we wanted to scientifically determine their potential effect on brain cells," says lead author Frédéric Meunier from the Queensland Brain Institute.

The researchers isolated a compound from the lion's mane mushroom known as N-de phenylethyl isohericerin, along with its hydrophobic derivative called hericene A, and tested their effects on cultured neurons from rat embryos.

The extracts had a "clear neurotrophic effect," they write, resulting in doubly long axons – the threadlike links that conduct impulses away from a neuron – and more than triple the number of neurites, or small projections from a neuron that can grow into fully functional axons or dendrites.

"Laboratory tests measured the neurotrophic effects of compounds isolated from Hericium erinaceus on cultured brain cells, and surprisingly we found that the active compounds promote neuron projections, extending and connecting to other neurons," Meunier says.

"Using super-resolution microscopy, we found the mushroom extract and its active components largely increase the size of growth cones," he adds, "which are particularly important for brain cells to sense their environment and establish new connections with other neurons in the brain."

Research has shown growth cones drive the development of axons, helping these crucial extensions branch out from one nerve cell and navigate to connect with a precise target cell.

The study also featured behavioral experiments on mice, designed to test how the fungal compounds affect the rodents' memory. The results suggest "dietary supplementation with H. erinaceus crude extract significantly enhanced recognition memory."

And apparently it doesn't take much to get this result – reducing concentrations of hericene A by a factor of 50 in the crude extract didn't seem to affect its influence over recognition memory.

Previous research on lion's mane mushrooms suggested their famous memory-boosting effect might occur because they promote neurogenesis, the researchers note, and this study seems to support that explanation.

"Our idea was to identify bioactive compounds from natural sources that could reach the brain and regulate the growth of neurons, resulting in improved memory formation," says co-author Ramon Martinez-Marmol, a research fellow with the Queensland Brain Institute.

Lion's mane mushrooms form white, shaggy spines that dangle in a cluster, vaguely resembling a beard or a lion's mane. They grow naturally on dead trees, with a native range spanning swaths of Asia, Europe, and North America, but are also widely cultivated.

The fungus has a long history in traditional Chinese medicine, and a growing field of research is now validating some of the centuries-old claims of its health benefits. This study may reveal valuable details, but we also still have a lot to learn about what exactly these mushrooms can do.

Like many studies so far, this one relies on rodents to examine how the mushroom affects brain cells and function. That can yield useful insights, of course, but more research involving humans will be needed before scientists fully understand how the compounds affect our species.

In the meantime, this new study lends intriguing support to the already strong case that lion's mane mushrooms offer at least some kind of brain-boosting effects. Overall, the authors write, their findings suggest the compound hericene A acts as a "potent memory enhancer."

According to Dae Hee Lee from CNG Bio, a South Korea-based company that supported the research, this sheds new scientific light on an ancient tradition. And these insights could be especially relevant today, as many aging human populations contend with cognitive decline.

"This important research is unraveling the molecular mechanism of lion's mane mushroom compounds and their effects on brain function, particularly memory," Lee says.

The study was published in the Journal of Neurochemistry.

注釋：

表示“ 菌類；蘑菇 ”，means "the taxonomic kingdom including yeast, molds, smuts, mushrooms, and toadstools; distinct from the green plants “，如：The lawn was covered with fungi. 草地上到處都是蘑菇。

表示“ 迷幻藥，迷幻的”，means "producing distorted sensory perceptions and feelings or altered states of awareness or sometimes states resembling psychosis; “，如：This is a psychedelic folk rock song and also my first original one. 這是一首迷幻民謠搖滾歌曲,也是我的第一首 原創作品。

表示“ 老年癡呆症 ”，如：We think Grandma may have Alzheimer's disease, and that make her forget more. 我們覺得奶奶可能得了老年癡呆症，這會使她更健忘。

表示“ 真菌；”，如：My roses were suffering from fungus. 我的玫瑰受到真菌的侵害。

表示“山伏(姓,日本) ”

表示“苯乙基 ”

表示“ 猴頭菇包含的一種生物活性成分” , 起到強效神經營養作用

表示“ 疏水的”，means " tending to repel and not absorb water“，如：Methane is said to be hydrophobic. 甲烷被稱為疏水的。

表示“ 派生物”，means "sth coming from sth else “，如：‘Happiness' is a derivative of ‘happy'. happiness 是 happy 的派生詞。

表示“ 猴頭菇包含的一種生物活性成分” , 起到強效神經營養作用

表示“ 神經元 ”，means "a cell that is specialized to conduct nerve impulses “，如：Impulse acts as a message sent through a neuron. 沖動相當于通過神經元傳送的資訊。

表示“ 胚胎；萌芽 ”，means " the young of any creature in its state before it is born “，如：My plans are still very much in embryo. 我的計劃在很大程度上仍在醞釀中。

表示“ 軸突”，means "long nerve fiber that conducts away from the cell body of the neuron “，如：The axon must be able to withstand stretching. 軸突必須能經得住伸展。

表示“ 神經突”，如：This allowed them to construct a blueprint of how the thousands of proteins work together to facilitate neurite formation.

最終他們就能得到一張關于數千個蛋白分子共同促進神經突形成的藍圖。

表示“ 樹突 ”，means " short fiber that conducts toward the cell body of the neuron“，如：Soma and dendrite of NOS neurons were similar in each group.

各組大鼠一氧化氮合酶陽性神經元的胞體和樹突均相似。

表示“猴頭菌 ”，如：In the wild plant resources, there are precious Hericium wild, edible fungus, mushrooms and other fungi Microbiology. 在野生植物資源中，有珍貴的野生猴頭、木耳、蘑菇等菌類微生物。

表示“ 猬屬 ”, 如：Hericium erinaceus has abundant nutritions which are essential to the health of man. 猴頭菇富含人體需要的多種營養成分,具有較高的醫療價值。

表示“ 顯微鏡學 ”，means " research with the use of microscopes“，如：Her recent work in electron microscopy stimulated a new line of research. 她最近的工作，在電子顯微鏡學上開創了一個新的研究領域

表示“神經形成 ”，means "the development of nerve tissues “，如：Stimulating neurogenesis could also lead to a new type of treatment for depression. 刺激神經新生也可能是抑郁症的新型療法。

表示“ 解開”，means " disentangle“，如：he discovery will help scientists unravel the mystery of the Ice Age. 這一發現将有助于科學家揭開冰川時代的奧秘。

中文簡要說明：

近年來，真菌提取物，在幫助大腦生長和功能方面的潛力而備受關注。不，這裡講的不是裸蓋菇素的迷幻效果，而是其他更無害的，能當食材的猴頭菇。

科學警報(Science Alert)報導，猴頭菇(yamabushitake)又叫鬃獅菇，是一種可在市場上買到的食材，不過它也一直享有各種心理健康益處的聲譽，最近的研究就支援它可以降低抑郁症、降低失智損害的潛力，有人稱其為「菇中之王」。

由國際科學家團隊所進行的一項新研究，研究人員确實發現了猴頭菇的提取物有「補腦」的效果，可以促進腦神經生長，進而增強小鼠的記憶力。研究團隊主持人，昆士蘭大腦研究所(Queensland Brain Institute)的默尼耶(Frédéric Meunier)說：「幾個世紀以來，亞洲的傳統醫學一直相信，猴頭菇具有改善心智的療效，但我們想用科學方法确定它們對腦細胞的影響。」

研究人員從猴頭菇中分離出一種名為 N-de 苯乙基異香草素(N-de phenylethyl isohericerin,分子式 C19H25NO3)的化合物，被簡稱為「猴頭菇素A」(hericene A)，提取之後，研究人員以大鼠為實驗，測試對神經元的影響。

報告稱，這些提取物具有「明顯的神經正向營養作用」，神經元軸突加長，神經突觸數量增加3倍，完全成長為功能建全的神經系統。默尼耶博士說：「使用超分辨率顯微鏡，我們發現蘑菇提取物及其活性成分，确實在很大程度上，增加了神經生長錐的大小，這對于大腦對環境的感覺，以及大腦其他神經元建立新的聯系尤為重要。」

研究也進行小鼠行為實驗，也就是喂食猴頭菇素是否對小鼠的記憶有效果，結果是正向的，似乎增強小鼠的識别記憶。 而且效果蠻明顯的且持欠的，即使日後喂食的猴頭菇素，濃度已降低原本的50分之一，但是小鼠并沒有出現記憶得而複失的問題。

研究人員指出，增強記憶力的作用，或許是促進了神經元的形成，并不會因為不繼續食用而造成神經元衰退。 這種真菌在中國傳統醫學中，一直有相當高度的評價，如今越來越多的研究也在驗證它的效果，我們能夠用現今的科學，來了解這些蘑菇的正向潛力。

據支援這項研究的南韓CNG Bio生技公司主管李丹浩(Dae Hee Lee) 說：「這項新發現在今天可能尤其重要，因為許多老齡化人口都因記憶力衰退而困擾，或許他們知道該吃什麼。」

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