MAPT and Mental deterioration: This scientific commentary refers to ‘Alteration of functional connectivity network in population of objectively-defined subtle cognitive decline’ by Zhang et al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcae033) and ‘Posterior cingulate cortex reveals an expression profile of resilience in cognitively intact elders’ by Kelley et al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcac162) in Brain Communications and ‘Determinants of cognitive and brain resilience to tau pathology: a longitudinal analysis’ by Bocancea et al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad100) in Brain