In the study, participants started by memorizing a number of word pairs. Researchers then showed them one word from the pair. The participants had to either retrieve or suppress the other. In between…[these] tasks, the researchers showed the subjects unrelated pictures of objects in an unexpected setting….
Later the team surprised the participants with a memory test…The participants were 42 percent less likely to recollect the object correctly if it had been presented between suppression tasks as opposed to recall tasks.
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[Researchers] discovered that suppression subdued activity in their hippocampus, a brain area responsible for both forming new memories and recalling old ones. This dampening may hinder the ability to register new experiences occurring at that moment.…
The findings could explain why some people report learning issues after a traumatic experience—if they often try to suppress bad memories, they might hinder their brain’s ability to form new ones.
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