smart: I know mini strokes can lead to a massive stroke but do they cause mental impairment or mental illness?Can mini strokes cause mental impairment overtime?m t - Mini strokes are caused either by blockage of a small brain artery or by rupture of a small artery with hemorrhage. Either can cause permanent death or loss of some brain tissue. Whether there is visible mental impairment depends upon the exact location in the brain where it occurs. Commonly, a stroke may be accompanied by some brain swelling which may temporarily damage brain tissue but partly disappears thereafter so that the patient seems to regain some of the initially lost mental functioning.Can mini strokes cause mental impairment overtime?it depends upon the patients condition, and what kind of stroke? it may alter the activity or physically movement but not lead to mental illness..