 Across the ship , the crew members start to act with uncharacteristic hostility towards one another , leading to a large brawl in the Ten Forward lounge . The onset of the events is tied to Sarek 's arrival . Ship 's Counselor Deanna Troi ( Marina Sirtis ) and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Beverly Crusher ( Gates McFadden ) believe Sarek may be suffering from <unk> syndrome , a degenerative neurological disease that only affects aged Vulcans . This condition causes individuals to lose control of their emotions and emit " broadcast empathy " , destabilizing the emotions of others around them . Picard attempts to approach Sarek about this , but Sarek 's aides deny that there are any problems . Picard asks Lt. Commander Data ( Brent Spiner ) to speak with <unk> ( Rocco Sisto ) , Sarek 's second assistant , who has mutual respect with Data ; Data confirms that <unk> has been attempting to channel his emotional strength into Sarek , but has been overwhelmed by the pressures of the conference . Picard directly confronts Sarek on the matter , who attempts to deny the problem . When Sarek breaks down emotionally in front of Picard , Picard realizes they may need to cancel the conference . 
