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The first tau transgenic mouse model was established more than a decade ago. Since then, much has been learned about the role of tau in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. Animal models, both in vertebrates and invertebrates, were significantly improved and refined as a result of the identification of pathogenic mutations in Tau in human cases of frontotemporal dementia. They have been instrumental for dissecting the cross-talk between tau and the second hallmark lesion of Alzheimer's disease, the Abeta peptide-containing amyloid plaque. We discuss how the tau models have been used to unravel the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease, to search for disease modifiers and to develop novel treatment strategies. While tau has received less attention than Abeta, it is rapidly acquiring a more prominent position and the emerging view is one of a synergistic action of Abeta and tau in Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, the existence of a number of neurodegenerative diseases with tau pathology in the absence of extracellular deposits underscores the relevance of research on tau.

Hospital autopsy rates have been declining worldwide. There is limited data on the rate of decline of autopsies in Australian hospitals. We studied the autopsy rates in Royal North Shore Hospital, a major Australian teaching hospital, over the last 47 years (1963–2009). Autopsy rates (defined as the percentage of in-hospital deaths which culminated in non-coronial autopsy) have steadily declined from 45% in the 1970s to 21% in the 1980s, 9% in the 1990s and 3% in the decade 2000 to 2009. The absolute autopsy numbers reached a peak in 1979 at 389 autopsies and decreased to 30 in 2009. Although the number of adult autopsies has declined, the number of perinatal autopsies performed has remained stable over the past 40 years. They now constitute 40% of all autopsies. Over the past 10 years 20% of autopsies were limited and 10% of brains were retained for further examination. Our data demonstrate that hospital autopsy rates have declined dramatically in Australia.