Investigation of kinesthetic and visual motor imagery differences during movement tasks using electroencephalograms

Motor imagery is classified as either kinesthetic motor imagery (KMI) or visual motor imagery (VMI). However, investigations to evaluate the type and characteristics of motor imagery using electroencephalography (EEG) have been limited. Here we examined differences in EEG characteristics during KMI, VMI, and no motor imagery (NMI). Differences in EEG during movement execution (ME) and movement observation (MO) were also examined. In subject S1, KMI and ME, and VMI and MO had similar tendencies. There was also a significant difference between KMI and VMI. It may therefore be possible to distinguish KMI from VMI using EEG.