- Luke Keegan while under the influence of a modified psychic dampener.(src)
Neural inhibitors[1][2][3] (also known as neuro-adjusters[4] or psychic dampeners[5]) 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.[6] These devices weaken their psionic powers,[5] and by extension, make it easier for ghosts to screen out the thoughts of other individuals.[7] Implanted in the brain, neural inhibitors can regulate brain and blood chemestry and reroute neural pathways in order to keep the ghost's emotional state in check.[8] The implants can be fatal[9] and their method of operation is very similar to neural resocialization,[4] but "much worse".[10]
The location of neural inhibitors can be tracked by some officers, both Confederate[10] and Dominion.[11] The implantation process leaves scarred tissue.[8]
The drawback to neural inhibitors is that they can be surgically removed,[4] or in rare cases, malfunction.[12] Upon the defection of Sarah Kerrigan, psychic dampeners were abandoned by the Confederacy in favor of the more effective memory wipe technique.[13] 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.[11] Some ghosts have used their psionic powers to disable their inhibitors, though such a procedure comes at a great risk.[8]
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[]
The Church's modified neural inhibitor
Some variants of neural inhibitors can suppress or reshape a disloyal ghost's memory and render them susceptible to orders.[4]
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]
References[]
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