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We recently reported that Parkinsonian and dementia phenotypes emerge between 7-12 months of age in tau^-/- mice on a Bl6/129sv mixed background. These observations were partially replicated by another group using pure Bl6 background tau^-/- mice, but notably they did not observe a cognitive phenotype. A third group using Bl6 background tau^-/- mice found cognitive impairment at 20-months of age.

To reconcile the observations, here we considered the genetic, dietary and environmental variables in both studies, and performed an extended set of behavioral studies on 12-month old tau^+/+, tau^+/-, and tau^-/- mice comparing Bl6/129sv to Bl6 backgrounds. We found that tau^-/- in both backgrounds exhibited reduced tyrosine hydroxylase-positive nigral neuron and impaired motor function in all assays used, which was ameliorated …