Attention tinnitus sufferers — that annoying ringing in your ears may be all in your head.

A research team from McMaster University and other Canadian and U.S. universities says it's pinpointed the source of tinnitus.

McMaster Professor Larry Roberts says they have evidence the high-pitched ringing or hissing noise tinnitus sufferers hear is generated by neurons firing in the brain, not the ear.

The phantom and sometimes constant ringing in the ears affects millions of people worldwide and has a dramatic negative impact on the quality of their lives.

Roberts says tinnitus is brought on by changes in the brain that take place when someone suffers hearing loss.

The research is in an article published in the latest edition of The Journal of Neuroscience.