Ventral tegmental area injury and frontal lobe disorder.

A patient developed acute behavioral changes implicating frontal-executive dysfunction. His clinical signs suggested mesencephalic injury, and a cranial MRI scan showed an abnormality restricted to a small region of the ventral midbrain. We suggest that the patient's behavioral disorder originated from disruption of the ventral tegmental area or it projections, structures that influence frontal brain processes via the mesocortical dopamine tract.