Michie's significant research in mismatch negativity (MMN) provided the first evidence for MMN as a potential early marker for schizophrenia. Her collaboration in this area with Dr Rebbekah Atkinson and Professor Ulrich Schall (also from the University of Newcastle), found two potential markers, which could allow early intervention, and potentially increase the chance of successful long-term treatments. Their resulting paper, published in Biological Psychiatry in 2012, was one of the most highly cited papers that year, as reported by the Schizophrenic Research Institute.[2][3][4]