Proposed mechanisms by which ROCK inhibitors reduce the amount of oligomeric tau. ROCK inhibitors inactivated tau kinases, including GSK3β, via AKT activation. ROCK inhibitors also inactivated caspase, and decreased the C-terminal truncation of tau and formation of tau oligomers, which are 2 forms of tau linked to toxicity. ROCK inhibitors also upregulated autophagy and proteasome and reduced total tau levels. Abbreviations: GSK3β, glycogen synthase kinase 3β; ROCK, Rho-associated coiled-coil protein kinase.