The new investigation by Bell and Wit is interesting for its historical scope and its topicality. The simulations demonstrate that local tuned oscillators - such as the outer hair cells (OHC) in the cochlea - are more broadly tuned when coupled to their adjacent neighbors.

Now, can this coupling also be altered in physiological experiments? Yes, it can. The coupling via the basilar membrane can possibly not yet be altered without damaging the OHC. But the coupling via the tectorial membrane (TM) has already been altered.

Decreased TM coupling due to genetic modification caused sharper cochlear and neural tuning

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17220887]

and a dramatic increase in spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs).

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25080593]

Thus Bell and Wit have now made it clearer than ever that Bekesy was on the right track already as early as 1928, when he started making experiments with Frahm's vibrating reed frequency meter.