Solving the Mysteries of Dementia: FTD Mutant Tau Impairs Structural Axon Initial Segment Plasticity

Accumulation of abnormal Tau is a characteristic feature of a number of neurodegenerative disorders, called tauopathies. What is the reason for Tau toxicity in neuronal cells? In this issue of Neuron, Sohn et al. (2019) found that FTD mutant Tau-V337M blocks axon initial segment (AIS) plasticity, causing neuronal hyperexcitability.