Amblyopia is one of the common eye diseases that seriously impairs children's vision. The past concept holds that amblyopia rarely has organic changes corresponding to vision loss. In recent years, with the development of examination methods, anatomical abnormalities have been found in the choroid, retina and brain structure of amblyopia patients, which provides a powerful basis for elucidating the pathogenesis of amblyopia. Furthermore, in addition to traditional occlusion therapy to treat amblyopia, some emerging treatments have also achieved excellent results. Therefore, this article reviews the anatomical and physiological changes and the progress of treatment methods of amblyopia.