Although loss of NLRP3 inflammasome activation is associated with reduced tau hyperphosphorylation and improved spatial memory in mice [112], intrahippocampal injections of ASC-specks themselves resulted in the spreading Aβ pathology in double mutant APP-PSEN1 mice [81], underscoring the complexity of microglia in AD. This evidence concerns the gene NLRP3 and Alzheimer disease.