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Imagine following situation: You learn some topics for your next exam, during that process you try to memorize words, numbers, use logic (basically use dominant functions of left brain hemisphere), suddenly from nowhere start to pop up thoughts such as: what a wonderful time you will have during following summer vacation, or you start to think about girl you met in library this morning (basically use imagination which is dominant function of right brain hemisphere). In this case, during the process of learning, useful functions of left brain hemisphere coincides with functions of right brain hemisphere which disturbs the process of learning. The solution for this kind of issues might be to use mind map technique. The idea with mind maps is to use functions of both brain hemispheres for taking notes, revising, analyzing, thinking and many more activities. Before we dive in mind mapping it would be useful to say something about brain hemispheres and their functions.

Brain
In the late 1960s, Professor Roger W. Sperry from California , who is Nobel laureate, published the results of his researches concerning the functional specialization of the most developed part of the brain (the cerebral hemispheres). Sperry's first results showed that two hemispheres of the brain tend to share intellectual functions . Dominant functions of the right hemisphere of the brain are: rhythm, gestalt (a whole thing that is different from all its parts, and has qualities that are not present in any of its parts by themselves), imagination, dreaming, color and dimensions. Dominant functions of the left hemisphere of the brain are: words, logic, numbers, arrays, linearity, analysis and lists. Researches conducted by Ornstein, Zaidel, Bloch, and others confirmed Sperry's results and extended knowledge about cerebral hemisphere. They concluded: In spite of the fact that each hemisphere is dominant in specific functions, fundamentally both hemispheres use all functions; therefore, there is no discrete allocation boundary between functions of the hemispheres. In the end all functions which were identified by Roger W. Sperry are distributed throughout cerebral hemispheres.

What is mind map?
Mind mapping involves writing down a central idea and thinking up new and related ideas which radiate out from the centre. Mind maps work the way the brain works -- which is not in nice neat lines. Memory is naturally associative, not linear. Any idea probably has thousands of links in your mind. Mind maps allow associations and links to be recorded and reinforced. The mind remembers key words and images. Mind maps use just key words and key images, allowing a lot more information to be put on a page. Because mind maps are more visual and depict associations between key words, they are much easier to recall than linear notes. Starting from the center of the page rather than top-left corner allows you to work out in all directions. We remember what stands out (where were you when 9-11 happened?). Visual quality of mind maps allows you to make key points to stand out easily.

How to do a Mind Map?
Mind mapping rules
These are basic rules for generating Mind Maps:

Uses of Mind Maps Notes.
Notes. Whenever information is being taken in, mind maps help organize it into a form that is easily assimilated by the brain and easily remembered. They can be used for noting anything -- books, lectures, meetings, interviews, phone conversations.

Recall. Whenever information is being retrieved from memory, mind maps allow ideas to be quickly noted as they occur, in an organized manner. There's no need to form sentences and write them out in full. They serve as quick and efficient means of review and so keep recall at a high level.

Creativity. Whenever you want to encourage creativity, mind maps liberate the mind from linear thinking, allowing new ideas to flow more rapidly. Think of every item in a mind map as the center of another mind map.
Problem solving. Whenever you are confronted by a problem -- professional or personal -- mind maps help you see all the issues and how they relate to each other. They also help others quickly get an overview of how you see different aspects of the situation, and their relative importance.

Planning. Whenever you are planning something, mind maps help you get all the relevant information down in one place and organize it easily. They can be used for planning any piece of writing from a letter to a screenplay to a book (I use a master map for the whole book, and a detailed sub-map for each chapter), or for planning a meeting, a day or a vacation.

Presentations. Whenever I speak I prepare a mind map for myself of the topic and its flow. This not only helps me organize the ideas coherently; the visual nature of the map means that I can read the whole thing in my head as I talk, without ever having to look at a sheet of paper

Please, feel free to look at mind map samples which has been shown bellow, where one can see how the mind map rules are applied.