ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the following three principles: Approach-withdrawal is an underlying behavioral dimension upon which affective subsystems have evolved, Hemispheric specialization in particular cortical regions is an important substrate of approach-avoidance behavior over the course of phylogeny, and Emotional development proceeds in an integrative manner with change occurring through the coordination of existing subcomponents of affect. The chapter explains the neurodevelopmental model which illustrates the relation between the maturation of central brain systems and the expression of emotion in the first year. It emphasizes three major subcomponents which comprise emotion: Facial expression, motor behavior and perception/appraisal. The chapter proposes a model relating the development of hemispheric specialization and interhemispheric transfer to the ontogeny of affective response systems over the first year of life. It outlines a model of the development of hemispheric organization and its relation to the emergence and modulation of certain primary emotions over the first 2 years of life.
