1. A method of optically stimulating neural tissue of a living subject, comprising the steps of: (a) delivering optical energy directly to a target neural tissue at a distance away from the target neural tissue; and (b) focusing the optical energy on the target neural tissue so that the target neural tissue propagates an electrical impulse, wherein the optical energy delivered has a radiant exposure no more than 10.0 J/cm 2 , wherein the optical energy is generated by a pulsed infrared laser, and wherein the optical energy consists of pulses of laser beam with pulse structure consisting of a train of 1 us micro-pulses within a 5 μs macro-pulse.