Cerebral Folate Deficiency: An Overlooked Driver of Anxiety, OCD, and Cognitive Symptoms

This educational activity offers 1.0 credit (CME, CPE, CNE, AAPA, AANP, CPE for Dietitians, ASWB, APA, Participation).

Nancy O’Hara, MD, MPH, FAAP
Pediatrician
Private Practice
Wilton, Connecticut
nhohara@gmail.com

INTENDED LEARNERS
This educational activity is specifically designed for healthcare and mental healthcare clinicians and professionals involved and/or interested in the treating patients with symptoms of anxiety, OCD, and impaired cognitive function.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After participating in this activity, learners should be better able to:

• The participant will be able to understand the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of Cerebral Folate Deficiency (CFD) in children with neuropsychiatric symptoms and Basal Ganglia Encephalitis and the relationship of BGE and CFD.
• The participant will be able to identify and describe the physiology of cerebral folate deficiency (CFD) and its neuropsychiatric effects.
• The participant will be able to appreciate the scientific evidence and genomics of CFD.

ACTIVITY OVERVIEW
Cerebral folate deficiency (CFD), a condition characterized by low cerebrospinal fluid folate despite normal serum levels, is a significant and poorly understood contributor to neuropsychiatric symptoms such as, anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, memory loss, and OCD. Although underrecognized in the context of infection-triggered illness, CFD may play a key role in the neurological and psychiatric manifestations seen in this population.

This presentation will explore the pathophysiology and clinical manifestations of CFD, highlight challenges in diagnosis, and present the theoretical overlap between CFD and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Practical clinical strategies will also be discussed, including testing for folate receptor autoantibodies and genomic SNPs, the role of dairy elimination, and the therapeutic use of high-dose folinic acid, offering hope for symptom relief in patients with neuropsychiatric symptoms.

This on-demand webcast is available with synchronized slides and video/audio.

To be eligible for documentation of credit for each session attended, learners must participate in the activity, and complete the activity evaluation. Participants who complete the evaluation online within active dates of the training will receive documentation of credit. Your certificate may not load if you are accessing it from a smartphone, or if your browser settings do not allow a new tab/window to open.

Once a certificate has been claimed, physicians and pharmacists may elect for credits to be submitted on their behalf to their boards via additional fields that will appear within the Claim Certificate page. Credits must be submitted through this process to be reported to the American Board of Surgery and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.

Live Date: March 10, 2026 – 7:30 PM EST
Estimated Time to Complete: 1 hour

There is no fee associated with this activity.

HARDWARE/SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
The activity is best supported via a computer or device with current versions of the following browsers: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari. A PDF reader is required for print publications.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by HMP Education and Psych Redefined. HMP Education is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Note: This statement is not an indication of approved credits. Please see below for full accreditation details, including credit types and totals, for this activity.

PHYSICIANS
HMP Education designates this internet live activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

NATUROPATHIC PHYSICIANS
The activity is certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™, ANCC nursing credit, and/or ACPE pharmacy credit. The following states currently accept one or more of these credit types toward naturopathic CE requirements: Arizona, California, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. Naturopathic doctors (NDs) licensed in these states may be eligible to apply the credit earned from this activity toward their CE requirements. Licensees are responsible for verifying applicability with their state licensing board, as acceptance criteria may vary and are subject to change.

PHARMACISTS
This internet live, knowledge-based activity has been approved for a maximum of 1.00 contact hour (0.1 CEUs).

Note: The certificate is not the official record of your participation in the activity. The official record of credit will be the information in the CPE Monitor system. Following ACPE Policy, credit must be transmitted to NABP through CPE Monitor within 60 days from the date you complete this CPE activity

NURSES
This continuing nursing education internet live activity awards 1.00 contact hour.

NURSE PRACTITIONERS
American Academy of Nurse Practitioners National Certification Program accepts AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM from organizations accredited by the ACCME.

PHYSICIAN ASSOCIATES/ASSISTANTS

HMP Education has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with the AAPA CME Criteria. This internet live activity is designated for 1.00 AAPA Category 1 credit. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

DIETITIANS

PSYCHOLOGISTS

Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs. This live activity awards 1.00 CE Credits.

SOCIAL WORKERS
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, HMP Education is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this internet live course receive 1.00 general continuing education credits.

USE OF PROPRIETARY NAMES
This continuing medical education activity may include device or medicine brand names for participant clarity purposes only, due to the presence of different branded versions of the same product. No product promotion or recommendation should be inferred.

UNAPPROVED AND/OR INVESTIGATIONAL USES OF DRUGS AND DEVICES
This activity may contain information about experimental and other uses of drugs or devices that are not currently approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) of the European Union or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States. Participants are strongly encouraged to consult approved product labeling for any drug or device mentioned in this activity before use. The opinions expressed during this activity are the opinions of the respective authors, presenters, or moderators and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of HMP Education.

DISCLAIMERS
The material presented and related discussions are not intended to be medical advice, and the presentation or discussion of such material is not intended to create and does not establish a provider-patient relationship. Medical advice of any nature should be sought from an individual’s own healthcare provider.

The opinions expressed in this educational activity are those of the faculty and are not attributable to HMP Global or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. Clinical judgment must guide each professional in weighing the benefits of treatment against the risk of toxicity. Dosages, indications, and methods of use for products referred to in this activity are not necessarily the same as indicated in the package insert for each product, may reflect the clinical experience of the presenters, and may be derived from the professional literature or other clinical sources. Consult complete prescribing information before administering.

DISCLOSURE OF RELEVANT FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS
HMP Education is an independent provider of continuing medical education. HMP Education has no proprietary or financial interest in medical or healthcare products over which the FDA (USA) or EMA (EU) has regulatory authority.

In accordance with our disclosure policies, HMP Education is committed to ensuring balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor for all accredited continuing education. These policies include assigning relevance to and mitigating all perceived or real relevant financial relationship (conflicts of interest) between any individual with control over the content and any ineligible company (commercial interest) as defined by the ACCME and CPME.

Any individual with control over accredited content, including planner, faculty, and reviewer, is required to globally disclose:

1. Individual relationship(s) or lack thereof, and its nature, with any/all ineligible company, and;
2. Any investigational, off-label, or non-FDA approved content or discussion

HMP Education has reviewed these disclosures, assigned relevance based on the relationship and scope of content, and identified those with the potential to compromise the goals and educational integrity of the education. Relevant relationships, or lack thereof, are shared with the learner.

Education has been independently peer-reviewed to validate content, mitigate identified financial relationships (conflicts of interest), and ensure:

1. All recommendations involving clinical medicine are based on evidence that is accepted within the medical profession as adequate justification for their indications and contraindications in the care of patients.

1. All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in accredited continuing education in support or justification of a patient care recommendation conforms to generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.

1. Content is appropriate, fair and balanced, unbiased, referenced, and non-promotional.

All relevant financial relationships have been mitigated.

FACULTY
The faculty have reported the following: Nancy O’Hara, MD, MPH, FAAP: Advisor – Designs for Health, NBX Wellness

PLANNING COMMITTEE
Planning for this activity was conducted by faculty advisors. To further support the development of the content, additional information regarding professional roles, responsibilities, and teamwork was gathered through survey input from our target audience and/or a comprehensive literature review.

HMP Education planners and staff include Meredith Dunn, Heather Getz, James Greenblatt, MD; Samantha Joy; Randy Robbin; and Andrea Zimmerman, EdD, CHCP.

James Greenblatt, MD: Speaker—Pure Encapsulations; Founder & Author Royalties—Psychiatry Redefined

No other HMP Education staff has disclosed a relevant financial relationship with any ineligible company (commercial interest).

ADA STATEMENT
HMP Education complies with the legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the rules and regulations thereof. Any participant in this educational activity who needs accommodation(s) may submit a request to the support team.

PRIVACY POLICY
HMP Education protects the privacy of personal and other information regarding participants, educational partners, and joint providers. HMP Education and our joint providers will not release personally identifiable information to a third party without the individual’s consent, except such information as is required for reporting purposes to the appropriate accrediting agency. HMP Education maintains physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal regulations to guard your nonpublic personal information.

COMMERCIAL SUPPORT
No commercial interest provided financial support for this continuing education activity.

CONTACT US
For immediate assistance, please explore our HMP Education Help Center or chat with our Virtual CE Assistant, which can answer most common questions related to claiming credits and the HMP Education website. If you have a question or grievance that cannot be answered by our Virtual CE assistant and Help Center, please contact the support team. Our accreditation and compliance team will respond to your inquiry within one business day.

Copyright © 2026 by HMP Education. All rights reserved. No part of this accredited continuing education activity may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without first obtaining permission from HMP Education.