Figure 1.

Comparative overview of behavioral alterations reported associated with zinc deficiency in animals and humans. Animal models for zinc deficiency (left) are distinguished into animals with pre- and perinatal zinc deprivation (blue color), postnatal zinc depletion (red color), and altered zinc homeostasis due to genetic manipulation (green color). Specific impairments are shown within a circle in case they only occurred in this particular animal model and within circles if they occurred in more than one group. Some of the behavioral alterations in animal models can be found mirrored in the behavior of human (right) zinc deficient individuals. Only impairments with strong validation are shown. Although possibly more similarities between zinc deficient humans and animals exist, more research on human zinc deficiency is necessary to exclude confounding factors.