Abstract: Many studies have confirmed that emotion can enhance memory. However, there are inconsistent results about emotion-induced memory impairment. Exploring the mechanism of the emotion-induced memory impairment is important for understanding the relationship between emotion and memory. Another important question is whether people can make conscious efforts to modulate effects of emotion on memory. Previous research on emotion regulation analyzed different strategies of emotion regulation (e.g., reappraisal and suppression) and examined effects of emotion regulation on memory of emotional events. So far, however, few researches focused on whether the emotion regulation strategies can modulate effects of emotion on memory of neutral items. Relatively little is known about cognitive neural mechanism of emotion regulation during memory. Therefore, the present study will employ behavioral measurement and methods of cognitive neuroscience to investigate emotion-induced memory impairment and whether emotion regulation strategies such as reappraisal and suppression can be used to modulate effects of emotion on memory. The results may contribute to theories about emotion, emotion regulation, and memory, and have significant implications for practical learning and memory.

Key words: emotion, memory, emotion regulation, reappraisal