Given the heterogeneous nature of tauopathies, dissecting the contribution of these secondary pathologies in disease progression, such as synaptic dysfunction and neuroinflammation, in addition to the signature accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau deposits, remains highly relevant in the field of neurodegeneration (Arendt et al., 2016; Lamb et al., 2016). The gene discussed is MAPT; the disease is tauopathy.