Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease in the aging population. Abnormal hyperphosphorylation of tau is the main cause of AD. Protein phosphatases 2A (PP2A) can increase the hyperphosphorylation of tau. Cornel iridoid glycoside (CIG) is one of the main components extracted from Cornus of ficinalis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects and the underlying mechanisms of CIG on enhancing PP2A activity. SK-N-SH cells were exposed to 20 nmol·L^-1 okadaic acid (OA, an inhibitor of PP2A) for 6 h to induce the hyper-phosphorylation of tau, in order to define the effect of CIG on the activity of PP2A and posttranslational modification of PP2A catalytic subunit C (PP2Ac). We found that OA significantly decreased PP2A activity, increased the phosphorylation of PP2Ac, and enhanced tau hyper-phosphorylation. Pre-incubation of CIG significantly attenuated the OA-induced tau hyper-phosphorylation at Ser 199/202 and Ser 396, and recovered the activity of PP2A. CIG inhibited PP2Ac phosphorylation at Tyr 307 and increased Src phosphorylation. In conclusion, the mechanism of CIG inhibition of tau hyper-phosphorylation was activation of PP2A to reduce the level of p-Src for a reduction of PP2Ac phosphorylation at Tyr307.