Editing Human behaviour genetics (section)

==History==
In 1869, [[Francis Galton]] published the first empirical work in human behavioural genetics, ''Hereditary Genius''. Here, Galton intended to demonstrate that "a man's natural abilities are derived by inheritance, under exactly the same limitations as are the form and physical features of the whole organic world." Like most seminal work, he overstated his conclusions. His was a family study on the [[inheritance of intelligence|inheritance of giftedness and talent]]. Galton was aware that resemblance among familial relatives can be a function of both shared inheritance and shared environments. Contemporary human behavioural quantitative genetics studies special populations such as [[Twin study|twins]] and [[Adoption|adoptees]].

The initial impetus behind this research was to demonstrate that there were indeed genetic influences on [[human behaviour]]. In [[psychology]], this phase lasted for the first half of the 20th century largely because of the overwhelming influence of [[behaviourism]] in the field. Later behavioural genetic research focused on [[quantitative method]]s.

In 1984, a research program named the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA) was initiated in gerontological genetics. The research was executed on Twins Reared Apart (TRA) and Twins Reared Together (TRT). In this three-year interval study, the testing was carried out in two ways, Mail-Out Questionnaire and In-Person Testing (IPT). The IPT includes functional capacity, physical performance measurements, neurological state, general health, cardiovascular health, and cognitive abilities, all of which are particularly significant in ageing. The IPT had two major components for testing, Biomedical and Cognitive Assessment. The biomedical component was constructed to analyses the general health status like age changes, lungs function and capacity, physical strength. With this, the cognitive component was developed to represent and evaluate domains of crystallized and fluid intelligence and memory.

The data acquired from this study allowed researchers to assess genetic contributions to age changes and continuities throughout the length of the SATSA twins' later lives, which prolonged a decade and a half.<ref name=":0" />