Thailand Medical and Pharmaceutical Researchers Find Mushroom Fights Stress-Induced Brain Damage
Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Sep 11, 2026 24 minutes ago
Researchers in Thailand have uncovered evidence that an edible medicinal mushroom may counter some of the damaging brain changes associated with chronic stress, improving memory performance while strengthening antioxidant defenses and reducing inflammatory responses.
Thai researchers found that Dictyophora indusiata improved memory performance while reducing
oxidative and inflammatory brain changes in chronically stressed mice
Image Credit: Thailand Medical News
The mushroom, Dictyophora indusiata, contains several biologically active compounds and has long attracted scientific interest for its medicinal properties. The new findings provide detailed evidence of its effects on the brains of mice subjected to prolonged unpredictable stress.
Thai Universities Join Forces on Mushroom Research
The researchers were from the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology and Innovation in Drug and Extract of Agriculture (IDEA) Research Group at Ubon Ratchathani University; Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR); Department of Manufacturing Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy at Rangsit University; Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Prince of Songkla University; and Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Khon Kaen University.
In this
Thailand Medical News report, the findings are particularly interesting because researchers examined not only whether the mushroom affected memory, but also biological changes that could help explain the improvements.
Chronic Stress Model Reveals Cognitive Benefits
The scientists used 60 male ICR mice, divided into six groups of 10. Animals underwent unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) for six weeks. Treatment groups received D. indusiata powder orally at 50, 200, or 800 milligrams per kilogram, while vitamin E was used as a positive comparison treatment.
Memory and learning were evaluated through three established behavioral experiments: the Y-maze, novel object recognition test and Morris water maze.
The stressed untreated animals performed worse than nonstressed mice. However, animals receiving 800 mg/kg of D. indusiata demonstrated significantly better Y-maze alternation, an indicator of short-term spatial memory. Doses of 200 and 800 mg/kg also significantly improved novel-object discrimination.
In the Morris water maze, mushroom-treated animals showed shorter escape times during training. On the testing day, all three mushroom doses significantly increased the time mice spent in the quadrant where the hidden platform had previously been located, indicating improved spatial memory. Importantly, locomotor activity did not significantly differ between groups, reducing the likelihood that simple changes in movement explained the results.
Mushroom Appears to Strengthen Brain Antioxidant Defenses
Researchers then examined the frontal cortex and hippocampus, two brain regions strongly involved in cognition and memor
y.
At 200 and 800 mg/kg, D. indusiata significantly increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), enzymes involved in antioxidant protection. These doses also reduced malondialdehyde (MDA), an indicator of damaging lipid peroxidation, in both brain regions.
Molecular analysis provided another clue. Treatment increased Nrf2 mRNA expression while reducing Keap1 expression, suggesting possible involvement of the Keap1-Nrf2 pathway, an important cellular antioxidant defense system.
Inflammatory Responses Also Declined
Chronic stress increased expression of the inflammatory-response genes IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α. Treatment with 200 and 800 mg/kg significantly reduced all three in both the frontal cortex and hippocampus. Even the lowest 50 mg/kg dose produced reductions in several inflammatory markers.
Chemical analysis found that D. indusiata extracts contained phenolics, flavonoids, polysaccharides and ergosterol. The extracts displayed antioxidant activity, while hexane and methanol extracts also demonstrated acetylcholinesterase-inhibiting activity in laboratory experiments.
Findings Do Not Yet Prove Benefits in Humans
The results remain preclinical and cannot establish that eating D. indusiata will prevent or treat stress-related cognitive problems in people. Researchers also noted limitations, including the absence of comprehensive assessments of anxiety and motivation and the lack of a non-stressed group receiving high-dose mushroom treatment.
Conclusions
Overall, the findings indicate that D. indusiata may protect cognitive performance during chronic stress through several interconnected mechanisms, including stronger antioxidant defenses, reduced oxidative damage and suppression of stress-associated inflammatory responses. Further animal research and carefully designed human studies are needed to establish safety, effective dosing and whether these potentially neuroprotective effects translate to people.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/18/8027
Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/thailand-medical
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/herbs-and-phytochemicals 
Share
Tweet
Share
