FIGURE 3.

Model of behavioral adaptation in response to social context through dopaminergic system. (A) Traits can be viewed as stable individual expressions of a behavioral outputs or preferences – with high inter-individual variability but low intra-individual variability. In a population of animals living in a group, in the same environment, individuals adapt to their social environment. In parallel, traits emerge in a series of non-social behaviors such as exploratory behavior or novelty seeking. Differences in response to stress or drugs such as nicotine are also observed. (B) Diagram illustrating a possible mechanism for generating inter-individual variability. Adaptations as a consequence of individual social experience impact dopaminergic system and lead to differences in individual behavior. In turn, these behavioral differences feed forward into changes in an individual’s interactions with the environment. This loop allows a social profile to be adjusted to another behavioral profile, for example exploration level. The same type of mechanism could allow the emergence of variability in vulnerability to stress and response to drugs.