Neuronal autoantibodies are the key to the diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis. Immunohistochemistry/indirect immunofluorescence， immunocytochemistry of dissociated rodent hippocampal neurons and immunoblotting are the commonly used antibody detection methods. The sensitivity of antibody detection in serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples varies in different subtypes of autoimmune encephalitis. Neuronal autoantibody titers correlate with tumorigenesis， but the correlation with prognosis remains controversial. The pathogenic role of antibodies associated with common autoimmune encephalitis subtypes has been further elucidated in recent years. In this paper， we briefly summarize the classical paraneoplastic syndrome-associated encephalitis， while focusing on the new autoimmune encephalitis， elucidate the advantages and disadvantages of different antibody detection methods and the sensitivity of samples， analyze the correlation between antibody titers and prognosis， and introduce the progress of research on the pathogenic role of antibodies associated with some common types of autoimmune encephalitis， in order to help clinical diagnosis and treatment as well as patient prognosis.