The dorsal spinal cord is organized in spatially restricted modules, each composed of heterogeneous excitatory cell types. The differential recruitment of these modules dictates the generation of sensory modality-appropriate motor reactions, e.g. itch-induced scratching vs touch-driven corrective reflexes (Gatto et al., 2021). These modules rather than being hard-wired are highly flexible, with inhibition playing a major modulatory role. We found that during chronic pain states, disrupted inhibition of the modules that encode touch causes the aberrant recruitment of excitatory neurons, making innocuous mechanical stimuli elicit pain responses (Peirs et al., 2021).