imagination vs mental imagery

imagination and mental imagery both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
imagination	Yes	No	No	No
mental imagery	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, imagination and mental imagery are synonyms defined as:

imagination and mental imagery: the ability to form mental images of things or events

Other synonyms of imagination include imagery, imaging.

imagination (noun)	mental imagery (noun)
the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses	the ability to form mental images of things or events
the ability to form mental images of things or events
the ability to deal resourcefully with unusual problems