The individual difference of motor imagery ability evoked by visual stimulus and its personality manifestation

Heliyon. 2024 Feb 28;10(5):e26922. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26922. eCollection 2024 Mar 15.

Abstract

Motor imagery has been commonly studied as a means of motor rehabilitation but, the individual differences limit its practical application. Visually evoked motor imagery has been widely highlighted by researchers because of its vivid stimulus. However, this modality is still not applicable to all persons. In this study, we studied the different performances of the visually evoked motor imagery between subjects and tried to explore the personality manifestation which can result in this performance. We found that conscientiousness and openness have negative connections with the performance of visually evoked motor imagery. To compare with spontaneous motor imagery, the visually evoked motor imagery reflects less personality difference between subjects with good and bad performances on motor imagery. This indicate that visually stimulus may increase the pervasive application of motor imagery. This study may provide benefits to predict the rehabilitation effect and to rapidly select the suitable motor rehabilitation methods.

Keywords: EEG; Motor ability; Motor imagery; Personality; Visual stimulus.