The brain’s ability to do everything from forming memories to coordinating movement relies on its cells producing the right proteins at the right time. But directly measuring this protein production, known as translation, across different types of brain cells has been a challenge.

Now, scientists at University of California School of Medicine, Scripps Research and their colleagues have developed a technology that reveals which proteins are generated by individual brain cells. The team used their method—called Ribo-STAMP—to create the first maps of protein production across nearly 20,000 individual cells in the mouse hippocampus, a brain region essential for learning and memory.

The study was published in Nature.