Background How to reduce cerebral ischemic injury remain a thorny problem, also an urgent and unresolved issue. The findings of preconditioning and ischemic tolerance provide a new idea of prevention on ischemic brain damage. Purpose This paper sums up literatures on the neuroprotective effects of electroacupuncture (EA) preconditioning and its undergoing mechanisms.　Content This paper describes the discovery of EA preconditioning，the relation between EA preconditioning and “backwards to acupuncture and moxibustion”, the optimal parameters, the action rules and possible endogenous protective mechanisms of EA preconditioning. Trend These findings provide the new proof for the opinions of “prevention of diseases” and “backwards to acupuncture and moxibustion” in traditional Chinese medicine, and lay the theoretical basis for preventive of clinical application of acupuncture against stroke. The clinical application and undergoing mechanisms of EA preconditioning still needs to be studied deeply and explored continuously.