Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a movement disorder with prominent tau neuropathology. Brain diseases with abnormal tau deposits are called tauopathies, the most common of which is Alzheimer's disease. Environmental causes of tauopathies include repetitive head trauma associated with some sports. To identify common genetic variation contributing to risk for tauopathies, we carried out a genome-wide association study of 1,114 individuals with PSP (cases) and 3,247 controls (stage 1) followed by a second stage in which we genotyped 1,051 cases and 3,560 controls for the stage 1 SNPs that yielded P ≤ 10 −3 . We found significant previously unidentified signals (P < 5 × 10 −8) associated with PSP risk at STX6, EIF2AK3 and MOBP. We confirmed two independent variants in MAPT affecting risk for PSP, one of which influences MAPT brain expression. The genes implicated encode proteins for vesicle-membrane fusion at the Golgi-endosomal interface, for the endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein response and for a myelin structural component. PSP is a rare neurodegenerative movement disorder clinically char­ acterized by falls, axial rigidity, vertical supranuclear gaze palsy, bradykinesia and cognitive decline. Though PSP is rare (with a prevalence of 3.1–6.5 per 100,000 people 1), after Parkinson's disease, PSP is the second most common cause of degenerative parkinsonism 2 . PSP is a tauopathy with abnormal accumulation of tau protein within neurons as neurofibrillary tangles, primarily in the basal ganglia, diencephalon and brainstem, with neuronal loss in the globus pallidus, subthalamic nucleus and substantia nigra. Abnormal tau also accumulates within oligodendroglia and astrocytes 3 . In Alzheimer's disease, even though all affected indivi­ duals have neurofibrillary tangles, Aβ plaques are closely tied to the primary disease process, and, thus, Alzheimer's disease is a sec­ ondary tauopathy. PSP is a primary tauopathy because tau is the major abnormal protein observed. Both environmental insults and inherited factors contribute to the risk of developing tauopathies 4 . Repetitive brain trauma, associated with certain sports, can cause Identification of common variants influencing risk of the tauopathy progressive supranuclear palsy