To explore the characteristics of emotional memory changes in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: A neuro-cognitive psychology test method for emotional memory was set, and the emotional memory of 22 MCI patients (MCI group) and 22 healthy controls (control group) matched by educational level were examined. Results: Compared with the control group [positive (63.80±6.92)%, negative (57.60±6.07)%, images recognition in the MCI group [positive (54.00±6.80)%, negative (53.07±5.92)%]had been impaired (t=－5.53,－2.92, P<0.05), but there were no significant difference in neutral stimuli (t=－0.38, P> 0.05) and reaction time (t=1.48, P>0.05). There were significant differences in recognition accuracy of positive, negative and neutral emotional pictures (F=6.27, P<0.05) and reaction time (F=3.74, P<0.05) of MCI group, and there was no significant difference between positive and negative (P>0.05). There were significant differences in recognition accuracy of positive, negative and neutral emotional pictures (F=39.13, P<0.05) and reaction time (F= 16.48, P<0.05) of control group. However, there was no significant difference in their rating of valence of the images. Conclusion: Emotional memory is impaired in MCI patients and reaction times were significantly slower, and emotional valence“positive”selective bias is impaired.