A 45-year-old man with AIDS is admitted to the hospital with a productive cough, fever, and night sweats. An X-ray film of the chest shows an ill-defined area of consolidation at the periphery of the...

A 45-year-old man with AIDS is admitted to the hospital with a productive cough, fever, and night sweats. An X-ray film of the chest shows an ill-defined area of consolidation at the periphery of the right middle lobe and mediastinal lymphadenopathy. A sputum culture grows acid-fast bacilli. The patient develops severe headache and neck rigidity. Which of the following brain areas is most likely affected by this patient’s infection?

(A) Base of the brain

(B) Cerebellum

(C) Hippocampus

(D) Periventricular white matter

(E) Temporal-occipital sulcus