In 2007 Cools moved back to the Netherlands, where she worked in the Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging in the Donders Institute for Brain.
[6][7] She showed that the genes associated with dopamine impact how we learn from the long-term consequences of decisions, whilst serotonin is more strongly associated with short-term choices.
[6] She demonstrated that people suffering from schizophrenia have motivation deficits from very early stages of their diagnoses, which are unrelated to their treatments.
[12][13] She believes that the goals that are characteristic of human behaviour can be classified as motivational (i.e. maximise reward) and cognitive (i.e. complete task).
[13] Cools demonstrated that the neural networks of psychopathic criminals are different to that or normal people, with a strong focus on reward and a lack of self-control.