Training-induced circuit-specific excitatory synaptogenesis in mice is required for effort control

Synaptogenesis is essential for circuit development; however, it is unknown whether it is critical for the establishment and performance of goal-directed voluntary behaviors. Here, we show that operant conditioning via lever-press for food reward training in mice induces excitatory synapse formation onto a subset of anterior cingulate cortex neurons projecting to the dorsomedial striatum (ACC →DMS ). Training-induced synaptogenesis is controlled by the Gabapentin/Thrombospondin receptor α2δ−1, which is an essential neuronal protein for proper intracortical excitatory synaptogenesis. Using germline and conditional knockout mice, we found that deletion of α2δ−1 in the adult ACC →DMS circuit diminishes training-induced excitatory synaptogenesis. Surprisingly, this manipulation does not impact learning but results in a significant increase in effort exertion without affecting sensitivity to reward value or changing contingencies. Bidirectional optogenetic manipulation of ACC →DMS neurons rescues or phenocopies the behaviors of the α2δ−1 cKO mice, highlighting the importance of synaptogenesis within this cortico-striatal circuit in regulating effort exertion. The role of synaptogenesis during the acquisition of goal-directed behaviors is unknown. Here, the authors show that learning-induced synaptogenesis in the adult mouse cortex is required to excite a specific circuit to adjust effort exertion.