Cerebrovascular reactivity determines the responsiveness of the cerebral vessels to vasoactive stimuli. However, acute changes in blood pressure may augment the calculated cerebrovascular reactivity. If autoregulatory mechanisms within the brain are intact, fluctuations in blood pressure will not alter cerebral blood flow. Because aging and hypertension may reduce autoregulation, cerebrovascular reactivity is often calculated using conductance to account for changes in mean arterial pressure (MAP). Yet, MAP may underestimate the influence of central hemodynamics on cerebral blood flow. In this context, we investigated whether central pulse wave characteristics were associated with cerebrovascular reactivity in healthy humans. Hypercapnia was used to determine cerebrovascular reactivity of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) in 28 adults (14 men and 14 women) using transcranial Doppler. MAP was measured using finger photoplethysmography and central pulse wave characteristics (i.e. aortic blood pressure, augmented pressure, augmentation index) were determined using arterial tonometry. Baseline MCA velocity was 48.6 ± 3.9 cm/s and cerebrovascular reactivity was 0.79 ± 0.08 AU. Aortic systolic (110 ± 2 mmHg) and diastolic (72 ± 1 mmHg) blood pressure were not associated with cerebrovascular reactivity. However, cerebrovascular reactivity was inversely associated with augmented pressure (8.3 ± 1.0 mmHg; r = -0.43; p<0.05), augmentation index (21.1 ± 2.3 %; r = -0.52; p<0.01), and augmentation index corrected for heart rate (12.1 ± 2.6%; r= -0.50; p<0.01). In conclusion, higher augmentation of the central pulse wave is associated with lower cerebrovascular reactivity in healthy adults. Our results suggest that cerebral blood flow regulation may be affected by central pulse wave characteristics. Funded by NIH RR-024150, AR-056950, AG-038067, and AG-16574-11PP2