Neural Circuit Lay Out Correlation Between Obesity and Depression by Karishma Abhishek on April 1, 2021 at 6:26 AM Baylor College of Medicine and collaborating institutions, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. The findings state that obesity and mental disorders such as depression and anxiety seem to often go hand in hand. The study team investigated the neuronal circuits that could be involved in reciprocally regulating weight gain and depression or anxiety. They provided mice with a high-fat diet. It was stated that the mice model that consumed a high-fat diet not only became obese but also anxious and depressed, a condition mediated by a defective brain circuit, as similar to human patients.