Preganglionic fibers connected the ganglion to the central nervous system.
Doctor Julian Bashir claimed he mistook a preganglionic fiber for a postganglionic nerve during the oral exam phase of his Starfleet Medical finals. The mistake meant Bashir did not score high enough to be valedictorian of his class and became salutatorian instead. (DS9: "Emissary", "Q-Less", "Distant Voices")
In 2373, The Doctor repaired the damage to the preganglionic fibers in Tom Paris' spinal column after Paris had been attacked by members of the Swarm species. (VOY: "The Swarm")
Michael Piller's scripted line for "Amaros" in an early draft of "Emissary" was: "I confused the MEDTECH with MEDTECH during the orals or I would have been first". In a memo to Piller, Rick Berman and Herman Zimmerman on 2 June 1992, Mike Okuda and Rick Sternbach suggested "I mistook a preganglionic fiber for a postganglionic nerve".' (The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, p. 124)
Robert Hewitt Wolfe commented on his wife's reaction to Bashir's mistake: "Celeste was pre-vet. And every time she saw "Emissary" or heard Bashir's line about mistaking a pre-ganglionic fiber for a post-ganglionic nerve, she'd say, They're nothing like each other! No one would make that mistake'". In "Distant Voices", Wolfe had Altovar deliver the line: "But pre-ganglionic fibers and post-ganglionic nerves aren't anything alike. Any first year medical student can tell them apart. You purposely gave the wrong answer". Wolfe commented: "Altovar is correct. That's my way of saying, 'Well, okay' to Celeste".' (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 224)
External links[]
- Preganglionic fiber at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Postganglionic nerve at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Postganglionic nerve fibers at Wikipedia