The Didomi Behavioral Model

A research paper proposing a systems-based neurobehavioral framework for understanding motivation, resilience, and behavioral regulation.

A Systems Biology Framework for Neurobehavioral Dynamics and Allostatic Regulation

A systems model describing how energy regulation, overload protection, self-evaluation, threat detection, and social grouping dynamically shape human behavior.

• Fragmented psychological models fail to explain volatility across contexts and states.
• Trait-based approaches overlook system interaction and regulatory imbalance.
• Well-being is not a fixed attribute but an emergent property of coordinated system regulation.

Abstract

The prediction and management of human behavior have traditionally relied on psychological constructs that treat behavior as a flexible output, shaped primarily by cognition, learning history, and environmental contingencies. In these frameworks, the body is often treated as a passive backdrop. The Didomi Behavioral Model (DBM) reframes this assumption by presenting behavior as an emergent property of five evolutionarily conserved, homeostatic regulatory systems: Energy Management, Recovery, Status, Attention, and Connection.

Drawing on systems biology, mitochondrial bioenergetics, neuroendocrine allostasis, and large-scale functional network dynamics, the DBM offers a mechanistic account of how physiological constraints shape “volitional” behavior. The model details how chronic stress and energy deficits initiate cascades of dysregulation, including glucocorticoid resistance, neuroinflammation, striatal dopamine suppression, and salience network rigidity, and argues that many so-called “maladaptive” behaviors are, in fact, functional biological solutions to unsustainable internal demands.

We outline the neurobiological substrates of each system, describe the feedback loops that couple them into higher-order dynamics (e.g., burnout and social defeat cascades), and propose a clinical shift from behavioral modification toward capacity restoration and accommodation. Finally, we position DBM in relation to existing frameworks such as allostatic load, Polyvagal Theory, and the Triple Network Model, while identifying testable predictions and future research directions.

Keywords: Systems Biology, Allostasis, Mitochondrial Bioenergetics, Neuroinflammation, Salience Network, Oxytocin-Dopamine Interactions, Social Defeat, Behavioral Ecology.