Reduced Distractibility in a Remote Culture

Background In visual processing, there are marked cultural differences in the tendency to adopt either a global or local processing style. A remote culture (the Himba) has recently been reported to have a greater local bias in visual processing than Westerners. Here we give the first evidence that a greater, and remarkable, attentional selectivity provides the basis for this local bias. Methodology/Principal Findings In Experiment 1, Eriksen-type flanker interference was measured in the Himba and in Western controls. In both groups, responses to the direction of a task-relevant target arrow were affected by the compatibility of task-irrelevant distractor arrows. However, the Himba showed a marked reduction in overall flanker interference compared to Westerners. The smaller interference effect in the Himba occurred despite their overall slower performance than Westerners, and was evident even at a low level of perceptual load of the displays. In Experiment 2, the attentional selectivity of the Himba was further demonstrated by showing that their attention was not even captured by a moving singleton distractor. Conclusions/Significance We argue that the reduced distractibility in the Himba is clearly consistent with their tendency to prioritize the analysis of local details in visual processing

Plasmablastic Lymphoma Involving the Parotid Gland

Plasmablastic lymphoma is a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It is strongly associated with HIV infection, although it has been recognized in immunocompetent patients. Plasmablastic lymphoma has a predilection for the oral cavity. Its occurrence in the parotid gland has not been previously described. We report a case of an HIV positive man who developed a rapidly enlarging parotid mass. A core biopsy of the parotid mass was evaluated by routine microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and in situ hybridization. The tumor was comprised of sheets of large cells with abundant cytoplasm, eccentric nuclei and prominent nucleoli. The cells exhibited a plasmacytic immunophenotype including expression for CD38 and CD138. An in situ hybridization assay for Epstein-Barr virus was positive. These findings were diagnostic of plasmablastic lymphoma. Plasmablastic lymphoma is notoriously difficult to diagnose, particularly when it arises in unexpected sites outside of the oral cavity. As an aggressive lymphoma, plasmablastic lymphoma must be considered in the differential diagnosis of a high-grade malignant neoplasm not just in the oral cavity but at non-oral sites including the parotid gland, particularly in an HIV-positive individual