NPY and Anxiety: In addition to influencing homeostatic feeding, modulation of AgRP/NPY cells has also been reported to elicit anxiety-like behaviors influencing exploration and foraging, which impacts food consumption.52–54 To test whether the activation of the GABADVC → ARC circuit produced anxiety-related behavior, VgatCre mice injected into the DVC with AAV2-EF1a-DIO-ChR2(E123T/T159C)-mCherry, with an optic fiber placed above the ARC, were assessed in an open-field arena (OFA) and an elevated zero maze (EZM) task (Figures S3A and S3D).