Fear recognition impairment in early-stage Alzheimer's disease: When focusing on the eyes region improves performance

► We examine the possibility of improving facial emotion recognition in Alzheimer's disease. ► Emotional faces appeared either progressively from gaze to periphery or as a whole. ► Fearful recognition in patients was significantly improved when their attention was directed to the gaze. ► Impairment of amygdala-dependent emotion recognition can be significantly reduced by inducing appropriate visual exploration.