Neural activity is a process of induction and propagation of neural excitability, clarifying whose mechanism is one of the basic goals of modern neuroscience. It is necessary to manipulate, stimulate or silence specific sets of neurons, when determine their role in brain function, and to achieve this goal with light is a new approach to control neural activities. Photostimulation techniques have been achieved through four approaches: light-mediated uncaging of chemically modified signaling molecules, excitation of light-sensitive proteins introduced into neurons, chemical modification of ion channels and receptors to render them light-responsive, and optical stimulation of neurons. Optical controlling of neural activity proves to be noninvasive, noncontact, and easy to repeat, which has been harnessed to rapidly activate or silence neurons. This optical control allows precise, millisecond control of neural circuits, which possesses a wide application prospect in fields of the foundation and clinical neuroscience. Here it the principles and applications of these optical controlling methods were reviewed, and their development trends in technical improvements and applications were discussed.