Heffernan KS, et al. - Central artery stiffness and hemodynamic pulsatility were examined during the cognitive engagement in younger and older adults. During cognitive engagement, older adults experienced increases in large artery stiffness, possibly preventing effective buffering of pulsatile hemodynamic energy entry into the cerebrovasculature. This was important as pulsatile flow during cognitive engagement was associated with overall cognitive performance, and not mean flow per se.