- Luke Keegan while under the influence of a modified psychic dampener.(src)
Neural inhibitors[1][2][3] are cybernetic implants that were used by the Confederate Ghost Program (and later, the Dominion) to control their ghost agents through keeping their aggression levels and behavioral patterns in check.[4] They are also known as neuro-adjusters (some of which also suppress or reshape a disloyal ghost's memory and render them susceptible to orders)[5] or psychic dampeners which weakens their powers[6] (by extension, this includes making it easier for ghosts to screen out the thoughts of other individuals).[7] The implants can be fatal[8] and their method of operation is very similar to neural resocialization,[5] but "much worse".[9] Its implantation leaves scarred tissue.[5]
The location of neural inhibitors can be tracked by some officers, both Confederate[9] and Dominion.[10]
The drawback to psychic dampeners is that they can be surgically removed[5] or in rare cases, malfunction.[11] Upon the defection of Sarah Kerrigan, psychic dampeners were abandoned by the Confederacy in favor of the more effective memory wipe technique.[12] However, previously-implanted ghosts (such as Devon Starke) usually did not have their dampeners removed.[3] Ghosts who retained them that became spectres under Project Shadow Blade had their inhibitors removed in order to avoid detection.[10] Some ghosts have used their psionic powers to disable their inhibitors, though such a procedure comes at a great risk.[13]
The Dominion utilizes both the mind wipe technique and neural inhibitors.[7]
After the End War, the Terran Dominion developed a device that could partially undo the effects of memory alteration by delivering an electric pulse through a neural inhibitor.[14]
Variants
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The Church's modified neural inhibitor
By 2503 the Terran Dominion had developed a specialized variant, the psi-inhibitor, to limit protoss psionic abilities.[15]
Modified neural inhibitor technology continues to be used by the Church of Besainted Pelagius to enforce obedience among its disciples, the technology taken from a ghost sent to terminate the movement.[16]
ReferencesEdit
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