Right and left vagus nerves regulate breathing by multiplicative interaction

•We examined Hering–Breuer reflex at three conditions (vagal intact, unilateral vagotomy and bilateral vagotomy) in the mouse.•We found that the right vagus nerve exerts more Hering–Breuer reflex effect than the left vagus nerve and the right lung is bigger than the left lung.•We also found that the first vagotomy always has a stronger effect than the second vagotomy, thus, the two vagus nerves exert their respiratory reflexes multiplicatively.