The efficacy of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI) was investigated using a bilateral frontal controlled cortical impact (CCI) model of experimental TBI. Forty-nine adult Long Evans hooded rats were randomly assigned to 3 groups (15 - CCI-VNS, 17 - CCI-No VNS, 17 - Shams). Following pre-injury baseline scores, animals were tested weekly for 35 days on a series of behavioral tests including beam walk, locomotor placing, inclined plane, forelimb flexion, and vibrissae-placing. Significant treatment effects were found at day 4 testing as tested by the beam walk and right vibrissae-placing tasks. Additionally, a treatment effect was also obtained for left forelimb flexion on days 21 and 35. Anterograde memory was assessed using the Odor Bead Test on days 16-18. The animals spent more time with the novel beads than the familiar beads. However, no group differences were found. Following pre-injury training, retrograde and working memory was assessed in the Morris water maze on days 11 and 31-34 respectively. VNS treated rats showed improved retrograde and anterograde memory ability compared to injured non-treated controls. The present results support previous findings that VNS is efficacious in reducing cognitive deficits following TBI and in enhancing recovery of function.