MAPT and Alzheimer disease: In response to the accumulation of Aβ plaques and NFTs, microglia are activated and facilitate Aβ and tau clearance in addition to inducing a neuroinflammatory response that damages neurons suggesting a delicate balance between a beneficial, detrimental, or mixed microglia reaction to AD progression (Lue et al., 2010; Leyns and Holtzman, 2017).