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Aging is associated with a gradual decrease in cerebral blood flow and disruptions in neurovascular coupling, causing a mismatch of energy supply and demand that can precipitate neuronal dysfunction and cognitive decline. We have recently discovered that ATP‐sensitive K⁺ (K_ATP) channels in capillary thin‐strand pericytes act as metabolic sentinels that couple subtle changes in local glucose to electrical signals such that blood flow is rapidly adjusted in response to decreased availability of this critical energy substrate. Aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are linked to an increase in caveolin, association with which can disrupt the ability of K_ATP channels to sense intracellular energy state by decreasing sensitivity to ADP. Here, we demonstrate than an interaction between caveolin and K_ATP channels in aging animals underlies the loss of electro‐metabolic blood flow control by brain pericyte K …