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Scientists have recently discovered stem cells, which they believe are responsible for the embryonic origins of human consciousness. 

The stem cells, newly-identified in mice by scientists from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla form the upper layers of the cerebral cortex (outer covering of gray matter over the hemispheres) , where higher brain functions are located. 

According to scientists, the same kinds of cells are found in humans and other mammals too and a defect in the function of the upper cortical layers is what results in such disorders as schizophrenia and autism, reported North County Times.

When these stem cells form a subset, they are called radial glial cells, or RGC cells, and that forms the various layers of the cortex together (regardless of when they are formed). 

According to Ulrich Mueller, a Scripps Research professor and senior author of the paper, the upper cortical layers are a "relatively young invention" in evolutionary history, NC Times reported.

"Because upper cortical layers were expanded during primate evolution, amplification of this RGC pool may have facilitated human brain evolution," Mueller stated.

"But, bigger brains came with a risk, making humans more prone to disorders when upper-layer neurons don't form connections properly," stated the Scripps press release. "Up until now, researchers trying to reproduce human cortical neurons in the lab from stem cells have only generated lower-layer-type neurons."

"This opens a door now to try to make the upper-layer neurons, which are frequently affected in psychiatric disorders," Mueller said.

The research was supported by the Dorris Neuroscience Center at the Scripps Research Institute, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the paper was published in the Aug. 10 issue of the journal Science.

More about the study can be read here.