Phosphoinositide 3 -kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) signal pathway is an important intracellular transduction pathway. It plays an important role in inhibiting cellular apoptosis and promoting cell proliferation by affecting the activity of downstream targets. Studies show that pharmacological and other strategies can activate PI3K/Akt pathway and downstream targets accordingly to improve neuronal survival. Such findings indicate that PI3K and Akt may be potential targets for cerebral protective therapy. This review serves to introduce the construction and functionof PI3K/Akt pathway, its substrates, and the new developments of this pathway in cerebral protection.